Death By Love
by jdsantos
Summary: Everywhere Stefan goes, Pain follows. Everywhere Damon goes, Rejection follows. Everywhere she goes, Betrayal follows. The saddest thing about betrayal is that it never comes from your enemies. Will they overcome their fear of becoming the Ripper and trusting people whilst finding love?
1. Chapter 1

**Disclaimer: I do not own Vampire Diaries or any of its characters but my own. I'm very well aware that I'm going off the plot but that's entirely the whole point. **

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Chapter One

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There was nobody who could make him happy other than Elena. He would go back to her in a heartbeat if he could but she wouldn't. Stefan felt empty, buoyant, like an anchor was hauling him down into the deep abyss of desolation. Where he would be left to desiccate as time flew past him. Damon had got the girl that he wanted and Stefan knew he couldn't be sad about it because it was always him. According to Katherine – not Elena.

The rain was beating heavily on his car, it sounded like light drum beats against a tin roof. So tranquil and ear-pleasing. Stefan was heading towards North Carolina, he had thought about starting a new life somewhere different, for a long time. Way before he knew about Elena's presence. But there was just something about Mystic Falls that made him feel so attached that he always had to come back. Even if it meant History repeating itself.

Stefan squinted his eyes at the dark figure lying on the side of the road. He pulled over quickly and stepped out the car. The figure turned out to be a girl, in her nightwear dress, lying soundlessly on the floor with a bleeding wound on her head. She wasn't crying nor did she seem drunk. _What was she doing out on the road so late at night? _He rain was getting heavier by the second, Stefan couldn't feel the cold but he knew that she could, worriedly he bent down on his knees and checked her pulse. He could feel the idle pumping of her heart. The sound of her blood rushing through her veins was even louder than the rain itself, Stefan urged himself not to get hungry so instead he bit into his wrist and fed her his blood. The girl seemed to be conscious, just oblivious to where she was. Stefan could see that her wound had rapidly healed so he decided to scoop his arms under her and carry her, bridal style to the passenger seat of his car.

On the way the girl gained a little of her consciousness back as she hung her arms around Stefan's neck. "Daniel?" She called out groggily.

Stefan ignored her and just placed her carefully in the car, making sure her seatbelt was fastened. He hopped inside, turned the car and returned back to Mystic Falls. Not because he wanted to but because the girl seemed like she was walking away from the town so he figured the girl must've lived there.

* * *

**_Welcome to Mystic Falls_**

Stefan's eyes peeled themselves off the Welcome sign and averted them back to the road. He thought that returning home would be a bad idea, it would be terrible of him to leave and then return so quickly. It probably made him seem too clingy. Stefan drove down Caroline's street. He knew it was a good idea to come to Caroline for help, after all he trusted her and she trusted him. Plus she reminded him of Lexi.

When he arrived at Caroline's house, he parked on the sidewalk, hopped out and took his sleeping companion into his arms again. Slowly he stepped up Caroline's porch and pressed her doorbell with his available finger. Moments later the door opened to a blonde in her pyjamas. Her big, blue expressive eyes were drooping today. She yawned and when she saw Stefan her eyes brightened with a confused expressed on her face.

"Stefan? I thought you were leaving." She greeted him.

Stefan raised his eyebrows as if he were agreeing, then his eyes averted to the girl he was holding. Caroline's eyes followed and she creased her eyebrows. "Well I was but I saw her lying on the road last night." Stefan replied.

Caroline cleared the pathway so Stefan could pass through, she shut the door closed once he was inside. Following Stefan into her living room she stood by watching as he laid her still-slumbering body on the couch gently. "Was she attacked?" Caroline asked, breaking the silence.

Stefan huffed and shook his head, his eyes pinned on the girl. "No. There were no bite marks when I found her. Just a head wound." He told her.

With furrowed eyebrows Caroline snatched the quilt from the other couch and draped it over her body. "Have you told Damon?"

Reluctant to reply Stefan crossed his arms, his muscly arms were bulging through his slightly damp shirt. There was a helpless, unconscious girl lying on her couch and Caroline's first idea of help was Damon? Stefan debated whether she was either doing this on purpose or she might've accidentally blurted that question out loud by accident. Finally he replied, "I told him I wasn't coming back. I don't think he'll be too concerned about her anyway."

Caroline nodded her head then headed towards her fridge, opened it, frowned then closed it. She grabbed the keys sitting silently by the kitchen counter and slid into some comfy boots. "There's nothing in the fridge, I should probably buy her something to eat." Stefan nodded in understanding whilst his blonde friend fiddled with her keys. "You want anything?" He shook his head and eventually Caroline left to get some food.

That left Stefan and the girl.

He leaned on the door frame, his legs and arms crossed and he stared at her. The more he looked at her the more familiar her face got. An uneasy feeling surpassed in his stomach, not a feeling of hunger or pain, but a peculiar one. Stefan tried to date her face back to the farthest memory he had, he swore he had seen her somewhere. There was just no confirmation when.

Stefan heard Caroline's car drive off and all he could remember was meeting Katherine for the very first time in his human life in 1864.

With a loud yell the girl that Stefan was watching over bolted upright from the couch. Her eyes shot open and there was a tear that rolled down her cheek. Stefan marched over to her swiftly, staring into her coffee-tinted orbs. They stared back at him with fear.

The girl's eyes searched her surroundings then back to Stefan's face. He had a worried look. "Are you okay?" He asked.

The girl started panting, petrified by the stranger talking to her. "Who are you?" She questioned back. "Where am I? What did you to do me? Who are you?!"

"Hey, calm down," Stefan told her serenely, placing his masculine hands on her tensed shoulders. He gave her a look and the girl was obedient to calm down. "What's your name?"

"Alice." She whimpered. "Where am I?"

Stefan blinked and said, "Mystic Falls –"

"What?"

"Mystic Falls." Stefan repeated with raised eyebrows. "Virginia."

Alice's eyes had widened and she shot him an astonished look. It seemed like she had just seen a ghost, her face was insipid, and she looked hostile and famished. "I'm from Massachusetts." She retorted, her voice quivering.

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**I know the first chapter is never really exciting but I tried to make it as intriguing as I could so please bare with me. **

**I suck at summaries so I'll explain here what the story is really about. Obviously it's about love, doesn't feature much of Elena but Katherine plays a major role. It's also about Family and how important it really is. The OC, Alice, is haunted by this idea that if she trusts someone she'll end up becoming betrayed because of what happened in the past, and as the story develops she learns to overcome this fear. Damon is also haunted by this idea of trusting people too but instead he's afraid of being rejected and hates being known as 'The Bad Brother.' Stefan on the other hand, is afraid of losing it and he ends up becoming The Ripper so what I'm aiming for is that all 3 learn to help each other overcome their fears. There might be a love triangle.**

**Please review, I would like to hear your thoughts, I have this story all planned out and it would be a bummer if you guys don't like it :) hope you enjoyed though and sorry for any mistakes I'm too lazy to change them x**


	2. Chapter 2

**Disclaimer: I own nothing but my OC.**

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Chapter Two

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"How did I even get down here?" Alice noticed the tear falling from her face and quickly wiped it. "Why am I even crying?"

Stefan creased his thickset eyebrows. He said, "Wait, so you don't remember anything?" Alice very discreetly shook her head. Stefan managed to recall what she had said when he carried her to his car last night. "Do you know anyone called Daniel?"

Alice replied, "That's my brother." Her voice quivering a little. The girl was thin, but not too thin. She had a slim nose and dome shaped, coffee-tinted eyes that radiated her innocence. But Stefan could've sworn that he had seen those eyes before.

Through his life he had seen so many brown eyes but hers, Alice's, they stood out like a sore thumb. They weren't just brown, they were a beaming brown, and every time she laid them on Stefan's khaki orbs, he could feel her pain. Not hurting pain, not physical pain, just pain from the unknown.

"Call him and you can go home." Stefan advised with a forced half-smile.

Alice responded with a blink and her eyes dropped to her lap. "I haven't spoken to him in a long time and –" There was a brief pause and Stefan suddenly became intrigued with Alice. His thoughts about Elena had vanished all of a sudden, his emptiness was now curiosity. He wanted to know who exactly this girl was and why he was suddenly so interested in her. "I don't have a home."

With a puzzled look, Stefan shook his head trying to regurgitate what Alice had just said. "What do you mean you don't have a home? You said you were from Massachusetts." He reminded her.

"I am. But I don't remember where I live. All I know is I was looking for something, someone. I remember waking up every morning either in a different state or a different town, just on the side of the road." She explained. "I just want to know what's going on."

She wasn't the only one who wanted answers. Ignoring the topic for a second, Stefan stood up and peeped through the curtains of Caroline's front window. Outside was a girl walking her dog and old, beat up cars driving past. Then he turned around and to face Alice. Her hair was still damp from the rain. "There's a bathroom upstairs, first door on the left, if you want to use it. I can get you some clothes too, I'm sure Caroline wouldn't mind."

"Caroline?"

Stefan scratched the back of his neck. "She's a friend. This is her home."

Alice forced out a smile and reluctantly peeled the quilt off her shivering body. Her feet were bare, dirty and scratched. The floorboards creaked as she took a step up the stairs, when she was out of hindsight Stefan fished out his phone and dialed Caroline's number.

* * *

An hour later, Alice had showered, dressed herself and unwearyingly awaited Caroline's return for some food. When the fair-haired had finally arrived, Alice sat motionless on the couch, trying not to draw too much attention to herself. Caroline gazed at the back of Alice's head. Her hair was now dry, and the colour of it was diverse. When it was wet it appeared raven black, but now that it was dry, her hair had a russet colour to it.

"Are those my clothes?" Caroline whispered, placing her keys down on the timber, kitchen counter.

Stefan peered over to Alice then shot a considerate look to Caroline. "I told her you didn't mind." He scrunched his face trusting not to get a punch. "You don't mind though, do you?"

Caroline squinted her eyes, purposely making it appear as if she had suspicions that Stefan was lying. "As long as you didn't go through the first drawer –" She paused when she saw him trying to hold back his laughter. Caroline gasped, "Stefan!" She scolded, punching him his toned arm jokingly.

Stefan chuckled, "It was the first drawer obviously I'd look through it." He grabbed the can of beans inside the shopping bag and ambled over to one of the ligneous cupboards, lining it inside. "I had a personal liking for that purple bra –" Stefan was interrupted when he was hit in the head with an orange.

"I hate you." She tormented.

Stefan let out a chuckle, when he bent down to pick the poor orange up off the floor he felt something pulsate in his pocket. Towing out his phone he discerned that Elena was calling him. His thumb was hovering over the green button but he was too diffident to press it. Of course he wanted to answer but what exactly was he going to say to her? _Hey Elena, I'm doing great, you tore my heart into pieces but I still love you. _Stefan let the phone call die out before jostling it back into his pocket.

"Who was that?" Caroline enquired.

Stefan moped, "Damon." He lied, although he knew he should've said Bonnie. He recognised that Caroline would bring up _that_ topic again.

Silence loitered in the room before Caroline exhaled a concerned breath. "Stefan –"

"Salvatore?" She had been cut off by Alice, who was now standing in the kitchen with them. The duo rotated their heads to the sound of her voice. It was hoarse and husky, as if she hadn't drank anything for an extensive amount of time. Stefan glimpsed over to Caroline who was stunned for words, but even he knew he was too. There was nothing he could say to her. How did she even know his last name? Was that the only thing she could remember? "Damon Salvatore? I don't know if he's the one I'm looking for but his name – I remember his name."

"Did Damon mention anything to you?" Stefan pressed, but Alice just wobbled her head. "Did he ever…attack you?" Stefan quizzed, walking a little closer to her. He stopped just an arm's length away when he felt his head go vague. There was something preventing him from getting close to Alice, like an indiscernible wall was hindering him from ever speaking to her again. Stefan tried to make it appear like nothing had happened so he crossed his arms instead and backed up a little.

In response, Alice shook her head. "I don't remember." Immediately, Caroline let out an immense sigh. Alice felt daunted and awkward for not having a clear answer to any of their questions. Though she couldn't really blame herself for not knowing because after all…she really didn't know. "I'm sorry I don't remember anything, I'm trying really hard to but I –"

"Alice. It's fine." Stefan reassured her, his lips rising into a smile.

He exchanged glances with Caroline and it was as if they had powers of telepathy because she followed with a slight nod; a strand of hair dwindling in her pale complexioned face. "I'll go talk to Damon." Stefan nodded and, with that, she marched out the door and left them alone again.

Stefan huffed and loomed towards the fridge with drowsy eyes. He opened it and skimmed it before nipping his head round to hook Alice's attention. "Are you hungry?" He queried, also scanning Alice with calculating eyes. She looked petite in Caroline's grey sweatpants and white tank top. Stefan caught himself admiring the way the top sunk into her curves, her waist small and her collar bones seeped out from her skin. He fantasized himself gnawing on her collar bones, holding hair slender body in his clasp.

_Knock Knock_

Stefan lurched out of his irregular fantasy and came tumbling back to reality. He blinked and noticed that his eyes had been aweing at Alice for the past second that he hadn't realised there was someone at the door. Without a backwards glance he answered the door, Alice following behind closely. Stefan turned the golden knob and dragged the door open to someone he didn't think he'd see ever again. Someone he thought he had finally gotten the chance to move on from. But today was just not the day.

"Elena."

Elena sloped her head, as if to ask what on earth Stefan was doing in Caroline's home. Her eyebrows furrowed and her chocolate orbs stared back at his avocado globes with confusion, yet he could see past the confusion and saw that Elena was pleased to see him. Just as he was pleased to see her.

"Stefan?" Elena replied.

From behind Stefan, Alice popped up. She too, was tangled by all this. "Katherine?"

* * *

Elena pressed her temples, frustrated, whilst Stefan leaned against the door frame, his arms were crossed again.

"That doesn't make any sense Stefan. She knows Damon and she knows about Katherine, why doesn't she know you?" Elena pressed.

Stefan just shrugged his shoulders. "She said she doesn't remember."

Elena looked up into his eyes. As if she were staring right into his humanity, his happiness. Stefan felt different, he still loved her but a chunk of Alice was somehow slowly taking over Elena. He didn't know why, he didn't know how. But he didn't try to stop it.

"Why did you come back Stefan?" Elena queried stepping closer to him.

He dodged her gaze and leaned off the wall, wandering over to Caroline's window to shut it. "Alice needed my help."

"But you could've left her with Caroline and just gone." By now Stefan didn't want to hear anymore. He felt like a stake had driven through his heart. Like someone was tearing his limbs apart one by one. But he didn't feel hurt by this, he felt angry. "Why did you stay, Stefan?"

He jerked his body round and walked to her swiftly with fury in his eyes. "Because I wanted to be sure that you chose the right decision so that I could move on." Stefan paused to calm himself down. Things were getting too complicated with Elena around, the constant job of having to protect her just got too repetitive, but he wanted to. And he still does. Right now, Stefan was unsure of his feelings for Elena. Maybe he just needed to get out of Mystic Falls and start afresh. But Mystic Falls was his home, it was where his family was, it was where Damon was and it was where Elena was.

Elena's phone suddenly lit up. Even though it was upside down from Stefan's perspective he could read Damon's name. Elena looked up but didn't answer the phone. She took it as an indicative that she had to go back.

"I have to go." She told him. Stefan nodded in understanding and Elena gave him a friendly smile. With a blink she had disappeared through the other open window in Caroline's room. The wind howled and he saw Caroline's clock turn to 9:30. Stefan walked over to the window to close it and listened.

The house was silent now. It was too silent in fact. Suspicious of the eerie silence Stefan sped downstairs and found Alice sprawled on the floor. Just like he had found her on the road the night before. Worriedly he took her unconscious body up to Caroline's bedroom and laid her gently on the bed, covering her body with the floral covers. He took one last look at her and he kept attempting to date her face back to early memories of his past life but there was nothing.

* * *

_"Stefan stop! Put me down!" She squealed. _

_Stefan carefully placed her feet back on the ground but she stumbled over her large dress and the two fell to the grass. The two laughed in unison, Stefan leaning in to plant his lips on hers. He felt fee again, he felt like he had finally earned his redemption when he was with her. _

_"When will you be back?" He asked her, pulling away from their passionate kiss._

_His companion pulled him back in for another kiss then said, "I'm only visiting my grandparents I'll be back within a week." _

_Stefan sarcastically pouted and she giggled at his remark. Then he laid next to his blissful companion, the two of them staring up at the azure sky. The clouds forming new shapes as they traveled across the heavens. "But Russia's too far away."_

_His cohort sat up and turned to him with the most breath taking smile. Her coffee-tinted eyes were the only hope he had of ever getting his humanity back. "I could do with a one week vacation away from your late night romances anyway." She mused brightly. Stefan laughed and took her face in his hands, pulling her closer as they yet shared another kiss. She tried to pull away but Stefan had strong hands, even if he couldn't kiss her lips he kissed her nose, forehead, cheeks, everywhere. His cohort giggled loudly. "Stefan!" She squealed._

_Eventually he let go and she left a peck on his nose. Stefan pushed her hair out of her face, caressing her cheek with his thumb. "I love you."_

_"Forever?"_

_Stefan nodded, "Forever." _

_She smiled big, trying to haul Stefan up from the ground. "We should go, Mother will have us by our necks if we don't return." Stefan stood up and straightened out his clothing, before his lover planted kisses all over his face in playful revenge. She laughed loudly and started to run away giggling. "Catch me if you can Stefan!" She yelled._

_Stefan laughed with sincere. He knew that he finally found someone who was true to him. Someone who loved him back as equally as he loved her. "That isn't fair Alice!" He shouted back and all she did was turn her head and giggle some more._

Stefan bolted upright from Caroline's couch, beads of sweat racing each other down his forehead.

"Alice?"

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**Thank you to everyone who reviewed, I really do appreciate them a lot. **

**Please continue to leave them as they are my motivation for writing, I love you all lol. Sorry if I made any mistakes.**


	3. Chapter 3

**Disclaimer: I own nothing but my OC.**

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Chapter Three

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The Morning had passed rather speedily, by now it was already 3 o'clock in the evening. Stefan removed the plate of lunch he had prepared for Alice and took it downstairs. There, he saw Caroline arranging some things around for College.

Stefan paced over to the garbage can and emptied the plate before letting the water rinse the remaining contents in the sink. He then revolved around, folding his arms. "Summer break's just started, why are you packing already?" He questioned Caroline.

The fair-haired huffed and mounted up properly. "It's never too early to pack Stefan. Besides, Tyler and Bonnie haven't called back and I have nothing better to do. So why not?" Stefan let out a light snigger escape from his lips but didn't answer. "Is she awake yet?" Caroline continued.

Stefan shook his head nonchalantly. "No." He merely said.

Caroline nodded before saying, "I talked to Damon."

A muscle tensed in Stefan's arm. He thought about Elena's unexpected visit last night and he asked himself why he didn't say anything about Damon. Last night was his chance to ask Elena if she really was optimistic that she loved his brother, but he blew it. He flipped her off just like a humanity switch. There was a questionable reason to tell Caroline but something was holding him back from telling her. She was his best friend, he trusted her just as much as she trusted him. Needless to say, she always knew how to cheer pitiable Stefan up. But he didn't want to be cheered up. Not today.

Stefan blinked, his khaki orbs looked up to Caroline's suitcase. "What did he say?" He finally said.

"Damon said her name rings a bell but – he'd have to see her to confirm." Caroline informed.

Her best friend's husky eyebrows knitted together. "So he's met her before?" Caroline reacted with a shrug, but to Stefan that usually meant a yes.

There was pulsating noise that stopped Stefan from thinking further. It sounded like a phone was ringing. It sounded like Caroline's typical iPhone ringtone. The golden-haired sought it out of her pocket and answered promptly. "Elena?" She replied looking straight in the direction of Stefan. The fair-haired didn't say a word, he didn't even bother eavesdropping on their conversation on the other end. "Mm-hm," Caroline continued; her eyebrows then arose and she bobbed her head. "Sure. I'll see you later." At that point she put the phone down. "I'm going down to the Grill to meet up with Damon and Elena, you…wanna come?" She asked.

_Damon and Elena. _

Stefan felt his stomach knot inside, he thought long and firm. He debated whether to go or not. If he did go it would mean compelling himself to tolerate watching _Damon and Elena_ holding hands and being in-love. But if he didn't go it would mean he'd get no answers to his questions about Alice. The vampire's avocado globes met with Caroline's navy orbs, they sparkled with plead. "Um, no. I'm gonna stay and look after Alice. You go ahead without me." He retorted with a forced beam.

Caroline shot him a persuasive look. "Are you sure?"

Stefan nodded so his best friend tentatively put all her things down, grabbing her keys and bags before leaving with a sincere goodbye.

When she left, Stefan sighed profoundly, striding towards the couch. His eyes searched the place, listening to check if Alice was awake. When he established that she was still slumbering he plunged his lightweight limbs on the couch. Frustrated, he closed his eyes, pinching the top of his nose with his fingers. The young Salvatore replied last night's dream in his mind. There he questioned himself whether it was his memory kicking in; or whether it was just a made up fantasy to make himself believe that he had moved on from Elena. Stefan slowly fell into a deep sleep, blocking out everything pesky in the world.

* * *

_The sun peered out from behind the dull clouds. It shone through the Salvatore's face and Alice smiled with a heartfelt look on her face. Stefan furrowed his eyebrows at his striking cohort. Her russet wavy tresses fell below her shoulders, stopping at her waist. Alice had her Mother's coffee-tinted eyes that always beamed with content; and her Father's archetypal, slim nose along with his tall cheekbones. She was an exotic chef-d'oeuvre._

_Stefan shut the door to his domicile. "What are you smiling about?" He asked her, entwining his fingers with hers. They felt soft and kissable, just like her lips. _

_They set their path towards the elongated, olive green meadow. "You don't burn in the Sun unless you have that ring." Alice rested her head on Stefan's shoulder. "What if you could walk in the sunlight without it?" She quizzed._

_Her companion took a look at his Lapis Lazuli and repeated her enquiry in his mind. "I wouldn't have to worry about someone cutting my fingers off." Stefan pondered jokingly. _

_Alice took her head off his shoulders and laughed pleasantly before letting go of his hand. She picked up her weighty dress and began to run away with an idyllic smile across her face. "Catch me if you can Stefan!" She shouted to him. _

_"Not this again!" He yelled back with a smile. _

_Stefan enjoyed her company. He enjoyed the way she always laughed like there was no tomorrow, even if the situation was a complicated one. He enjoyed her existence for she brought light into his dark brutality. Stefan loved her. She brought out his humanity and that made him feel guilty of all his sins. She was his redemption. She was a model of physical perfection. She was his gift._

_Stefan used his speed and caught Alice by surprise. She screamed in shock, tripping over her outsized cerulean dress; accidentally cutting her arm on a twig. Alice winced out loud and observed her tiny cut. The blood started to pour out, but even a minor amount sent a tremor down Stefan's back. It was just so undeniably appealing and nourishing. He couldn't hold his urge back._

_Stefan jerked his body away from Alice. His eyes enflamed and veiny. And his hunger was gradually starting to overcome him. "Your Mother, she's calling you. I can hear her." He said trying to get Alice to run away._

_"But my Mother is someplace else." Alice countered._

_With his wild imagination, he fantasised that a stake had been driven through his feet so he couldn't move. If he could compel himself to run away from his lover he would. Just as long as she was safe. That was all that mattered to him. "You have to get back to the house." Stefan pleaded desperately._

_Alice looked from her arm to Stefan. "It's my blood isn't it?" She asked him._

_Stefan grunted trying to keep himself from moving. "Alice I can't control myself. You have to go, I don't want you to see me." He begged her, slowly walking away._

_Alice swiftly clutched her dress, picking up its heavy weight, running after Stefan. She grasped his wrist securely, tugging him back. "Don't run, please." _

_"Alice –" _

_But she refused to take no for an answer. "I'm not afraid of you Stefan. Look at me." She requested softly._

_Stefan grunted again, the touch of her skin made his body tremble and quake. "I'm a monster!" He growled. _

_His cohort leisurely pulled his face around so that she could see him properly. Even though he didn't want to face her, he felt submissive by her touch. Stefan's enflamed eyes locked with Alice's and all she saw was nothing but good. She still saw the same Stefan that kissed her on the field. The same Stefan that promised he would love her forever. Alice was eager to touch his face so she gently ran her fingers over his under-eyes. It was coarse and jagged but she didn't care. _

_Alice shook her head lightly and smiled at him. "I think you're beautiful." She admitted. Stefan suddenly felt a hefty weight lift off his shoulders. She watched as his eyes returned back to their avocado colour. Penetrating but self-sacrificing. Enigmatic yet enthralling. "I would die for you Stefan."_

"Stefan?"

The Salvatore's eyes fluttered open. His eyesight was blurry, he made out a fuzzy silhouette standing over him. Rubbing his eyes he sat up and saw Alice standing over him. She backed away and smiled.

"What were you dreaming about?" She asked.

"How do you know I was dreaming?" He questioned her back.

Alice shrugged her shoulders. "You were saying my name."

"I was?" Alice nodded and sat down next to him. It felt obstinate for Stefan, he was unsure what to feel about her. He still loved Elena, however Alice's presence had him questioning himself about Elena. But those dreams, it was like watching his favourite TV show. They made him feel amused. But most of all, Stefan wanted them to be real. He opened his mouth to say something but then closed it. Finally he said, "Have we met before?"

Alice shrugged her slouched shoulders again. She looked exactly like the Alice in his dreams, excluding the huge, cerulean dress and lengthy russet tresses. She still had the coffee-tinted orbs, classic slim nose and tall cheekbones.

_Was Alice a doppelgänger? _

"I've been having dreams about you too. I know it's creepy but trust me, I feel like we've met before too." She self-confessed.

Stefan traced some of her words that she had said last night. Then he evoked Elena's visit. "Katherine. You said you knew her." He stated.

Alice was about to reply when the doorbell unexpectedly echoed. Stefan thought it was Caroline so he strode over to answer it. What he thought was going to be a petite, blonde vampire turned out to be a lanky, dark-haired vampire. His brother.

"Damon." Stefan welcomed not sounding too delighted to see him again.

Damon's piercing, arctic blue eyes broadened and a smirk arose on his face. "Hello brother."

Stefan folded his arms. "What are you doing here Damon?" He asked with a growl.

Damon invited himself in, his eyes probing the place. The older Salvatore swivelled his body, his tight-fitting black shirt outlining the muscles of his body. "A little blonde birdy told me, there was a new girl in town, brought by the one and only, Stefan Salvatore." Damon teased denoting to Alice. He smirked, his obscure eyebrows rising. "Has 'Ripper Stefan' come back?" He continued to mock.

Stefan sighed, shutting the door. "No, Damon."

Damon looked around, searching for Alice. "Where is she anyway? Caroline's been bugging me to meet her." He peered around the living room and found what he was looking for. "Ah." Stefan rolled his eyes, following his older brother into the room. Alice hoisted up from the couch and timidly loomed towards the Salvatores. A smirk crept up on Damon's face, as if he had seen a long lost relative but tried not to react to it. He was poised in ignoring the 'Elena' topic. On the other hand Stefan was appreciative, he didn't really want to talk about her at this moment.

Alice deterred her eyes to Stefan and asked, "Is this –"

"Damon Salvatore?" He finished. "The one and only." Damon winked putting his hand out for Alice to shake. Alice gradually seized his hand but Stefan saw his brother's arm become rigid. He could tell that he wasn't hurting her and vice versa but Alice had triggered something in Damon that caused him to react that way. The dark Salvatore released the girl's hand brusquely and forced out a smile. His eyes were restrained on Alice's. "Stefan can I talk to you? Privately."

Damon rotated around and motioned his head towards the kitchen. They both left Alice by herself, who then turned the TV on. "What? What is it?" Stefan pressed impatiently.

"That's Alice Reynolds." Damon answered with a suspicious tone. "She hasn't aged. Is she one of us?"

Stefan returned by shaking his head. "No." Damon narrowed his eyes at her, becoming apprehensive of the girl's very existence. "When you touched her, something happened." He recapped.

"I don't know what it was but it felt like something was stopping me from touching her." Damon averted his eyes from Alice to Stefan, then Stefan to Alice. "Do you remember her?" Stefan attempted to date her face back to his farthest memory again but failed. He shook his head miserably, fiddling with his Lapis Lazuli. "You're telling me you don't remember 1886 with Alice Reynolds?" Damon said in astonishment, Stefan shook his head again. "Alisa Romanova? You loved her _a lot_ more than Katherine, hell you were even engaged."

"I don't remember anything about her. She's a stranger to me." Stefan snapped.

Damon disregarded his little brother and stayed silent for a moment. "She's supposed to be dead, how is she still here?"

* * *

**I've finally managed to get Damon into the story therefore it will get better and their fears will slowly appear. **

**Again, thank you to all that reviewed I truly do appreciate them and please continue to leave them. I'm sorry for any of my mistakes. I hope you enjoyed it. **


	4. Chapter 4

**Disclaimer: I own nothing but my OC. **

* * *

Chapter Four

* * *

Damon opened the door to his and Stefan's dynasty. It moaned open and Damon's loud footsteps echoed through the timber walls. Stefan followed with light footsteps whilst Alice made no footsteps, only the look of awe as she stepped inside. Damon had agreed to help Stefan search for answers, because Damon had a question that needed to be answered too.

Pouring himself a glass of Bourbon, Damon then led his visitors up to his chamber. He set his glass down on a nearby table before rummaging through a box from beneath his bed. On the other hand, Stefan noticed a familiar bra lying on the covers of his brother's bed. A bra that belonged to Elena's. Stefan bit into the inside of his lip, urging himself not to say anything.

"Ah." Damon said, pushing the unwanted files of paper back into the box. Stefan inched closer to check out what his brother had found, whilst Alice's curiosity sent her into Stefan's room.

"What is it?" Stefan said.

The older Salvatore presented a picture similar to the one Stefan had of Katherine from 1864, except this one was different. The younger Salvatore took it from his brother's grasp and glared at it with astonishment.

_Alisa Romanova 1886 _

Stefan stared at it with a blank expression. The girl in the picture had almond shaped eyes, elevated cheekbones and Alice's archetypal slim nose. Actually, it _was_ Alice. Stefan's mind replayed his recent dreams and all of a sudden he started to remember her. He remembered the softness of her skin, the loudness of her laugh. He even remembered how happy he felt. The warm feeling inside that made all his enquiries disappear. But the only enquiry he couldn't seem to erase was how he had forgotten her? Surely he wasn't compelled to forget, no vampire can compel another vampire.

"The look on your face tells me you remember." Damon spoke, his piercing blue eyes squinting.

Stefan's face was tough to comprehend. He looked muddled and livid yet he also looked cheerful. "October 1886, we were supposed to get married when she came back from Russia, but she never showed up." He recapped.

Alternatively, Damon grabbed his Bourbon and finished the remaining liquid before agreeing with his brother. "You see what I don't get, is how you both don't remember each other. But I remember her and she remembers me." Stefan didn't reply, he only blinked. "I mean I get that I'm the handsome brother but you two –" He paused pointing his finger at Stefan. "You had a love as epic as Elena."

"February 1922." A voice spoke from behind them. The brother's turned around in unison and looked at Alice with a mystified expression. "I finally managed to get to the US so I could find you, but you were gone." Alice paused, leaving Stefan lost for words. "I remember it all now. I don't know how, but I do."

Stefan was lost for words. How was it that when he remembered so did she? How could they both even forget each other? "I was in Chicago. Why didn't you come back?"

By now Alice and Stefan had remembered every waking moment they had spent with each other. All the laughs, the tears and the fear. They remembered but they couldn't remember what it felt like. It all just seemed like a distant memory that was better left forgotten.

"Something happened on the way to Russia. My Father had to attend some business in Bulgaria. Business that involved Katerina Petrova." Alice started to explain, her Russian tongue slurring the R's in Katherine's name. The russet-haired revealed the picture of Katherine that Stefan owned, the one that almost looked like Damon's picture of Alice.

Damon made a vomiting sound. "The evil slut vampire? We've all crossed her once." He insulted, rolling his eyes. When Stefan saw Katherine's face his eyes fell to the timber floor.

"We became very close and she eventually asked me who had my hand in marriage. When she found out it was you I noticed something had changed in her. She started cancelling all our plans, until my Father invited her to our house that we owned in Bulgaria. Katherine stole my diary; she read all my secrets and my desires for you to walk in the sun and to spend eternity with you. Except I didn't want the omission of becoming a vampire." Alice sounded like she had learnt this by memory. As if she had just experienced this yesterday. Almost like the long forgotten Alice was, little by little, coming back to life. "Katherine offered to make a deal with me. She told me that if I killed myself every night then you could walk in the sunlight without a ring, in return that I didn't go home back to you."

Damon's eyes narrowed. "How did she do that?"

Alice glanced over to the older Salvatore and there was a look in her eye that gave Stefan uncertainties. He all of a sudden, had this impression that Alice was hiding something. "She used a witch and secretly bound mine and Stefan's memories of each other." Alice hesitated and reverted her stare back to Stefan. "After that she manipulated me, she killed my family and compelled me to forget about you. If I forgot about you then so did you. I spent the rest of my life searching for something that could fill the emptiness inside me which eventually lead me here."

"Well that's Katherine for you." Damon joked, trying to ease the situation a little. Nobody replied. Silence loitered within Damon's chamber and there was nothing but an awkward atmosphere. Damon sighed. "Elena will be home soon. But you're welcome to stay."

Stefan looked back to his brother and shook his head. "No we'll be on our way." He gave the picture of Alice one last look and thought deeply. "You don't mind do you?" He asked politely.

Damon half-smiled. "Go ahead."

With a forced half-smile, the avocado-eyed Salvatore shut the door to Damon's room, following Alice out and into the car. Stefan's eyes peered over at the time on his car. _9:15._ He figured that she was going to be slumbering soon so he pushed on the pedal firmer.

When they arrived back at Caroline's house Stefan stationed his car on the sidewalk before opening the door for his friend. The two hadn't muttered a single word to each other ever since, but Stefan felt the need to let Alice know that he wasn't mad at her. How could he ever be mad at her? He let Alice walk first to the front door but when she touched the top of the porch she stopped. Stefan was hasty to react when he realised what was going on; he used his immense speed and caught her tumbling body in time. Carrying his long-lost sweetheart up to Caroline's room, he laid her deceased body to rest for the night. Afterwards, he groggily ambled back downstairs and laid down on Caroline's buckskin couch where his eyes could no longer hold themselves open.

* * *

_"Damon it was a kiss, it didn't mean anything."_

_Stefan hid behind the wall and eavesdropped on the conversation. He was hoping it wasn't what he thought it could be. _

_He heard his brother's voice riposte, "It did Alice. It meant something and you know it." _

_"I'm sorry Damon but I love Stefan."_

_The young Salvatore heard ruffling, it sounded like his fiancée was gathering her dress up and trying to run away. But something caught her in the moment. _

_"What are you gonna do when he can't control himself? Because I'm pretty damn sure that once he gets a taste of your blood he won't be able to stop. Who's going to save you then?" _

_"How do I know you won't do the same? I trust him. I would even die for him Damon, don't ruin this." _

_Stefan heard Damon scoff. "Right. I get it. It's always the good brother that gets the girl."_

_"Damon –" _

_"No Alice. I get it okay? You don't like me because I kissed you. I always ruin everything. It's who I am."_

_"Everyone makes mistakes Damon. We're all human."_

_"But I'm not human. I'm a monster!" Damon growled. _

_"All monsters were human once." _

_Stefan bravely peeked around the corner to check out what was happening and he saw what he didn't want to see the most. Alice slowly inclined in and laid her lips against his brother's. Her hands released her large dress from her grip and Stefan surveyed soundlessly, he could do nothing but watch. Drawing away, Alice smiled warmly and said something but Stefan's hearing was interrupted by a bandwagon pulling up on the side. Alice then ran away to meet up with her parents to get ready for her departure to Russia._

_Stefan hurriedly used his speed and joined her parents at the front of their house, appearing as if he were waiting for Alice. He saw her running towards him with that same blissful smile. Except he noticed something had changed, her smile, it appeared disconsolate. She looked anxious to see him._

_"Alisa your dress." Her Mother scolded in her coarse Russian tongue. Alice nodded and flattened out her clothing._

_"I've made plans with the designer. She said my dress will arrive the day I come back." Alice declared, grinning at him. Stefan forced out a weak smile and nodded. The horses to her carriage whickered as her Father mounted inside._

_"Alisa we have to go." Her Mother insisted before looking at Stefan with appreciation in her eyes. She greeted him with a hug. "I can't wait to call you my son-in-law Stefan."_

_"The pleasure's mine Mrs Reynolds." He replied proudly._

_Alice's mother sniggered, "I thought I told you to call me Anna." _

_Stefan chortled and nodded as if he were agreeing. "Anna. It's my pleasure to be calling you my mother-in-law." _

_Anna smiled broadly and Alice observed her Mother scramble into the carriage. "I better get going." _

_Stefan was devastated by what he saw but he knew that if he even let it bother him for 2 minutes the wedding might never take place. He would never be able to have ownership of Alice and her love. He wasn't one to hold grudges, and he knew that the best thing to do was to forgive her right there and then. It would be terrible to leave her distraught over a silly kiss. Alice said it didn't mean anything anyway so why should he even let himself care? _

_"Write to me." He begged taking hold of her slim waist just as she was leaving. Alice positioned her hands on his shoulders and nodded slowly. "I love you." He said._

_Alice enfolded him firmly and she whispered softly in his ear, "Always and forever."_

* * *

Stefan awoke to the sound of rustling coming from above him. He listened closely and decided to venture upstairs to look at what was happening. When he reached the uncanny rustling he saw Alice, with a change of clothes, standing in front of an open window with her arms folded.

"Alice?" He called out taking a step inside.

The russet-haired swivelled her head around and observed as Stefan inched closer, his boots making echoes in the room. The vampire overlooked his past love and wondered what could've happened if she returned home. Stefan wouldn't be in Mystic Falls, he would be out there travelling the world with his wife. Except reality set in and punched him in the face. The supernatural world always had consequences even when you didn't expect it to.

"Sorry, I didn't mean to wake you. I needed some air but I didn't want to –"

Stefan stopped her midway through her sentence and chuckled. "It's fine." Alice put on a weak smile and her cohort furrowed his eyebrows. "What is that?" He asked her. She too, knitted her eyebrows wondering what on earth Stefan was talking about. "That smile. You used to give me that face when you were down."

Alice shrugged her shoulders before inhaling deeply, her gaze staring out the window. "I spent 127 years searching for you, only to find nothing but ache in your eyes." She laughed at herself. "I didn't even know what I was searching for until now." Stefan didn't reply. "Did you ever come looking for me?"

Alice rotated around to face him and he sighed. "I spent the next decade looking for you. I even went insane that I started killing people and then I turned into this Ripper. I couldn't stop."

He could see that her eyes were wet with tears that she tried desperately to hold back. Of all the times he'd spent with her he'd never seen her cry with joy. It made him warm inside, like the butterflies in his stomach were going ballistic. Even seeing her cry made him tear up inside. Stefan was never usually like this but Alice, she knew how to bring out the true human in him. He grabbed her face and melted his lips on hers. There was an electric feeling he felt surging through his lips. Like a numbness that he didn't want to feel. There was something in between them stopping them from feeling each other's heat. Stefan pulled away with confusion.

"Your lips." He stated, his eyes looking straight through her. "I can't feel them."

Alice held his hands that were still positioned on her soft face. To Stefan if looked like she was gripping on tightly, but inside neither of them could feel each other. She couldn't feel his bleak skin just as much as he couldn't feel her warm touch.

"It's the curse Stefan. It's a curse that stops us from ever being together."

* * *

**Your reviews make me feel so happy so thank you so much! Please continue to leave them as they are my motivation to continue with this story since I'm not capable of finishing stories such as The Return. **

**I wasn't really too happy with this Chapter but Chapter Five will be better, I promise. I hope you enjoyed. **


	5. Chapter 5

**Disclaimer: I own nothing but my OC.**

* * *

Chapter Five

* * *

"If I could find the witch who put this on us then I would. Trust me Stefan I would." Alice paused and squeezed his hand tighter, her eyes appeared sad. "My feelings for you haven't changed."

Stefan's eyes plummeted to the timber floor, his masculine hands releasing his grasp from her face. If he could tell her that he was still in love with Elena he would but, 127 years are worthless if she found out he didn't love her exactly the same way. Although he was starting to warm up to her, he wouldn't have kissed her if he was so sure he had no feelings for her.

"What about your feelings for Damon?" He bravely asked her.

Stefan noticed the vein that always peered from her forehead whenever she tried to prove a point. It used to drive her insane whenever he mentioned it. "I came looking for you. Not Damon." Alice retorted. Suddenly, there was a bang downstairs. It sounded like the door had been shut. There was whimpering and the sound of keys being placed on a flat surface. "What's wrong Stefan?" Alice pressed.

The Salvatore turned his head away from Alice with a worried look on his fine-looking face. "Caroline." Without a backwards glance he marched out the room and down the stairs, only to find a distraught looking blonde biting her lip nervously. "Caroline?" He called out to her.

His best friend's deep twilight-sea eyes glanced up at him. Instantly, Stefan knew there was something wrong, it wasn't a wardrobe malfunction wrong or a Klaus dilemma, it was something far worse than Tyler not calling back.

"It's Bonnie –" She started but her voice strained.

The colour of Stefan's eyes were different today. They looked more of an oasis blue colour rather than a Caribbean green, empty but self-effacing. They widened with curiosity. "What? What is it? Did she call back?" Stefan pressed eagerly.

"She – She's gone Stefan." Caroline answered with a sob.

Her best friend shook his head, hinting for her to elaborate. "What do you mean she's gone?"

Caroline's face scrunched, her eyes packed with her dismayed tears. "Bonnie's dead Stefan."

_Bonnie's dead._

Bonnie was dead.

Bonnie _is_ dead.

And Bonnie wasn't going to come back.

Stefan wanted to believe that what Caroline had said was a lie, but he knew that she would never lie to him. Even if she did he would sense that almost instantly. Although he and Bonnie never really had a tight and healthy relationship like he had with Caroline, he knew how much she meant to her. Seeing his best friend dwell up so easily in front of him was like watching Lexi get staked a hundred times over. A constant reminder that we never really appreciate the best things in life. The feeling of regret suddenly overwhelmed him.

Caroline rushed over to him, letting herself become enclosed within Stefan's strong arms. "Bonnie's dead." She sobbed into his chest. He waited until she let her sadness escape.

With a gentle hand he lightly brushed her hair with his fingers. "Sleep it off." He advised and Caroline pulled away nodding. After brushing her hair out of her face and wiping her tears away, she slowly made her way up the stairs before entering her bedroom and closing it shut. Stefan glanced up just as Alice peered from behind the landing at the top of the stairs. She was unsure about what was going on and she didn't want to feel like a pest by asking so she glared at Stefan with concern. All he responded with was a forced, weak smile. The same smile that Alice put on whenever she was down.

* * *

The sun shone through Stefan's face, its rays being luminous as ever. He revolved his back to it knowing exactly why it was shining so bright. He felt a tugging in his chest as he leaned against the tree watching Bonnie's funeral from afar.

Everyone was there.

Damon. Elena. Caroline. Matt. Jeremy.

He witnessed Jeremy inching closer to pick up the bell. "We ring this bell in honour of Bonnie." He started. Everyone was crying apart from Damon. He knew how to hold back his sorrow. He wanted to support Elena and even though he didn't have a good relationship with Bonnie, Stefan knew that his brother was forlorn when he found out she was gone. He had promised to protect her and now… "A remembrance for her." Jeremy reverberated the bell very nonchalantly whilst Damon sealed eyes with his brother. He seemed to be giving him a look of regret and security. When the echo of the bell had vanished Damon's penetrating Corsican sky-eyes averted to the ground.

"Why aren't you over there? Wasn't she your friend too?" A voice spoke, interrupting his thoughts.

Stefan craned his head and saw Alice in Caroline's clothes, looking formally adequate. Her hair was curly, not the 1886 curls, just natural russet curls. He exhaled and shifted his weight off the tree to both his feet. "She was. But –" Stefan paused, not exactly sure how to portray his answer. "I thought I could but I just can't."

Alice took a deep breath, folding her arms as her golden prairie coloured eyes observed the funeral. Her cohort followed her gaze and they both watched as Matt wept. "She seemed like a really nice friend. Bonnie."

The Salvatore elevated his eyebrows, agreeing. "She always had your back. Even when you didn't expect her too. She was loyal to us all." Stefan explained with grief in his tone. Then he turned his head towards Alice. "You would've liked her. She's a lot like you."

Alice furrowed her elegant eyebrows. "How so may I ask?"

"You're both self-sacrificing. Other people's happiness comes before yours." Stefan looked down before sinking his hands into the pockets of his suit. "And you both had mesmerising smiles." He admitted. Alice felt a shade of rose creep up on her cheeks. "Jeremy and Bonnie are a lot like us. They can't feel each other's touch."

"But at least they have a way of breaking that." Alice informed. Stefan didn't answer. "Do you think there's a way for us to –"

"Even if there was, I don't want to risk it." Stefan confessed, butting into her sentence midway through. "I'd rather we spend an eternity not feeling than spending an eternity without you."

Alice blinked and replied, "Aren't they both the same thing?"

There was a brief pause between their conversations. All they heard next was Caroline's ecstatic yet distraught laugh upon seeing Tyler's return. It didn't surprise Stefan, he knew the hybrid would come back for the vampire. After all, they do love one another.

Stefan took his hands out of his pockets and swivelled around to return back to the car. "I think we should be heading back."

"What about Caroline?" Alice questioned.

"Tyler's here." Stefan argued and tentatively the slim, honeycomb-haired Alice followed the Salvatore back to his car.

* * *

Stefan opened the car door like a gentleman and Alice snorted. They had arrived back at Caroline's house within minutes upon their departure from the funeral.

"I think I can open a car door by myself Stefan." She whined. "This isn't the 1880's anymore."

Stefan smiled with content. The first genuine smile he'd ever done in a long time. Not because he'd seen Elena's smile or her laugh. It was because his past lover had made a witty joke. That was all it took to get the pitiful Stefan Salvatore to reflect his true smile.

"Well I'm sorry for trying to be a gentleman." Stefan argued with gladness in his voice. "And, for the record, you loved it when I helped you out the carriages. You said it was your favourite thing that you loved about me."

Alice laughed at him. "Who said I was complaining?" She retorted sarcastically.

"You did." He said, his face alight with happiness.

Alice gasped mockingly. "I was advising you not to open the door, I wasn't complaining."

Stefan cocked an eyebrow musingly at his friend. He was slowly but surely starting to warm up to her, and he didn't even try to resist it or her temptations. "If I could bet you the world that you were complaining then, I would." He joked, smiling.

"If you can catch me then I'll let you win." She yelled, absconding with amusement in her eyes and hilarity in her laughter. "Come on Stefan!" She shouted.

There she was.

1886 Alice Reynolds had come back to life again.

The same witty jokes and games, the same eyes that glimmered whenever she felt thrilled. The same laughter that reminded Stefan that it was her glee that he had fallen in love with the moment they met. Even though he wanted to be positive that he was still in love with Elena, Stefan had caught himself falling in love again with Alice.

Stefan chuckled and used his immense speed to catch Alice by surprise. She was so bewildered she stumbled onto the grass that belonged to one of Caroline's neighbours. Stefan stumbled with her but he managed to hold himself from falling by placing his hands beside her head, his body on top of hers. The electric shock had sparked again.

Alice giggled and Stefan smiled candidly, aweing over her striking appearance. "You remember 'Catch Me If You Can'" Stefan mentioned and Alice nodded, moistening her lips.

"How could I forget Stefan?" She said. He noticed something change drastically in her. The tone in her voice was sweeter, softer, and angelic. It was youthful and it belonged to the Alice that Stefan had fallen in love with in the spring of 1886. "Do you remember –" Alice continued, elongating her last word, she pretended to search for an answer before pulling Stefan in for a short kiss.

They pulled back simultaneously and the Salvatore smiled again, licking his lips after feeling the electric shock surpass his mouth. "How could I forget?"

"What about –" Alice elongated her words again before kissing Stefan's face as much as possible. She giggled as she did so and eventually she slowed down. Leaving a kiss on his forehead.

Followed by a kiss on his nose.

Then a kiss on his cupid's bow.

Before kissing his desirable, rosy lips. The longer they kissed the more exhilarating the electric shock felt. It was passionate even though they couldn't feel it. It was the only way they could physically confess their love for each other. And, now, Stefan was confident that he was definitely in-love with Alice.

* * *

Later on that night Stefan and Alice had spent most of their afternoon with Caroline and Tyler, helping her drown her sorrow in movies. Stefan had received a reply off Damon that stated Bonnie had agreed to help find answers to break their curse.

Stefan knocked rhythmically on the beat up, wooden door of the Salvatore dynasty. It moaned open to a weak smiling Damon. His eyes were drooping with concern.

"Brother." He welcomed before planting his eyes on the petite girl stood beside him. "Alice." Damon motioned for them to step inside to which they did.

At first they saw Jeremy holding what looked like a hunting shotgun. He was pointing it at someone. He was pointing it at Elena. But the curly locks gave it away. Jeremy had Katherine as a hostage. Obviously Katherine was vulnerable now. Human. No super speed. Super hearing. Super power. The only power she had left was her sexual prowess and her ability to add humour to stressed situations.

"What's she doing here?" Stefan asked his older brother, surveying him pouring himself a glass of Whiskey.

Katherine scowled at Stefan grimily. "Yes Damon. What am I doing here?" Katherine re-phrased in a more polite manner when it was in-fact Jeremy who insisted that she come. She then rolled her eyes and when they locked in with Alice's she frowned. "Alisa?"

Damon raised his glass in the air before drinking it. "Brilliant. I love reunions." He teased.

"I never thought I'd see your face again Katerina." Alice growled, fury evident in her voice.

"Well you obviously didn't see that one coming now did you?" Katherine teased back, clearly unamused and disinterested. The doppelgänger groaned before sighing in her seat. "Is anyone going to tell me why I'm here? I have…human things to be doing."

"Jeremy?" Damon started as he poured himself another glass of whiskey.

Jeremy placed the shotgun on the couch, he was facing someplace else. Like he were talking to Bonnie from the spirit world. "Bonnie says the curse can be broken."

Katherine interrupted with, "Are you trying to break the curse that I put on you both?" She quizzed sitting up in her seat but nobody answered. After she slouched back, her arms folded, exasperated that everyone seemed to be disregarding her. "Tell Bonnie if she finds the witch that cast the spell, Katherine says hello."

Stefan's face now crumpled. "Wait. She's dead?"

Katherine rolled her eyes. "Congratulations, you figured it out. Would you like a medal for being the smartest _and_ the handsomer Salvatore?" She cocked an eyebrow expecting to get a reply but was obviously mistaken.

"Great. No witch, no curse breaking." Damon pointed out, drinking the remaining whiskey left.

"Well done Captain Obvious." Katherine mocked, rocking her leg as she continued to scowl at everyone in her sight.

"Shut. Up." Damon snapped almost immediately.

Stefan watched Jeremy nod to someone from behind him. "Wait - Bonnie says there's two ways you can break it."

Stefan took a step forward, eager to ply the answers out of the little Gilbert. "What? What is it?" He pressed impatiently.

Jeremy looked from Stefan to Alice, then from Alice to Damon. "In order to break it, both of you have to be equal."

The younger Salvatore shook his head, hinting for Jeremy to elaborate. "What does that mean?"

"You take the cure and become human, that way you become equal." Jeremy paused eyeing Alice with particular concern. "Or she becomes a vampire."

* * *

**Merry Christmas everyone! I hope you have a good day today!**

**Thank you to those who reviewed, favorited and followed this story. It means alot. I hope you enjoyed this chapter as much as I enjoyed writing it.  
**


	6. Chapter 6

**Disclaimer: I own nothing but my OC and the plot.**

* * *

Chapter Six

* * *

The clock struck half nine and Stefan knew exactly what was going to happen. He twisted his body and saw Alice's body plummeting, thankfully he grabbed her in time before she could hit the floor. Katherine hoisted up from her seat, astonished by the sudden death. She had never witnessed Alice dying and she used to consider her as a little sister so it obviously plucked a string in her human heart. Even though it was her jealousy that brought the curse out on Alice, Katherine felt sorry for ever being jealous in the first place. She was the closest the doppelgänger ever had to a daughter and to Katherine that meant a lot to her. Stefan brought her body to where the doppelgänger had been sitting and laid her cadaver body down cautiously.

"Is she dead?" Katherine wondered backing up to give Stefan some space.

The Salvatore sat down beside her and caressed her cheek so tenderly it was like the wind was pecking it. "For now."

Katherine blinked then gulped a frog in her throat. "Is she coming back?" She asked shifting her weight to her left foot.

Nodding in response, Stefan then planted a doting kiss on her forehead before walking over to Damon to drink a glass of his favourite Whiskey. The two brothers stood, side-by-side each other observing as Katherine inched closer to Alice's body and sat down next to it. On the other hand, Jeremy took the shotgun and ventured someplace else to return it.

The older Salvatore set his glass on the table. "So what's it gonna be brother?" He looked over to his younger sibling and squinted his eyes, giving him a calculating look but Stefan didn't take one notice of him. "Vampire or Human?"

Stefan's eyes fell to the floor in dismay, he watched as he swirled his drink. "I don't know what I want Damon."

His elder brother was now eyeing him with suspicion. He knew exactly what was going on in Stefan's mind he just wasn't sure if anyone would agree with him. "You don't want her to become a vampire do you?" Stefan remained silent. "You don't want to see her go over the edge because you don't know how to save her that's why."

"And what would you do?" He probed his brother, ignoring his words.

Damon sighed and gave a rigorous face. "I don't know what I would do either to be honest Stefan." He admitted.

Stefan folded his arms and turned his body towards his brother. "I know you were in love with her too."

Damon's eyebrows elevated and he put on a weak half-smile. "Yeah well it's kind of our curse, falling for the same girl." He teased blatantly. There was a fine line between Katherine and Alice.

Katherine seduced both brothers.

Alice only wanted one.

For a moment just then, Stefan thought he had heard himself think that Alice was better than Elena. At least Alice knew what she wanted and apologised for hurting the other.

"Is it okay if I stay here for the night?" The younger sibling asked. "Caroline and Tyler are occupying the house."

Damon scrunched his face and gave him the 'are-you-honestly-asking-that' look. "Did you seriously just ask me if you could sleep in your own house?"

There was that tugging in his chest again. The same one he felt during Bonnie's funeral. It wasn't painful but he could sense that it was tearing away his feelings for Elena. "I didn't think you'd want me in the house."

The raven-haired Salvatore shot his younger sibling a serious look. "Stefan you're my brother, brother's share everything. This house is yours. This is ours. The Salvatore house is ours." Damon argued.

Stefan could not manage a smile no longer. Not even a weak one but he forced one out anyway. Just to let Damon know that he was okay. "Where are you going to put Katherine?" He quizzed, his gaze returning back to the doppelgänger who was covering Alice's body with a blanket. In the years he'd known Katherine, this was the most affectionate both Salvatore's had seen her ever be. From their perspective it was like she was tucking her own child into bed.

"Where she belongs." Damon said with a slight disinterest in his voice. "The dungeon." Stefan scoffed faintly before finishing his drink and clanking it down onto the table. Damon sensed that his younger brother was not in the mood to even speak about Elena. "I'll tell Elena that you don't want to see her when she gets back."

Stefan bobbed his head and he started rotating his Lapis Lazuli. "Thanks Damon." He said weakly before ambling over to the couch to pick up Alice's body and lay her in his room.

* * *

_Stefan's finger traced over the beautifully written words from the first letter he had received from Alice when they first met. She had wrote to him to let him know how she felt about._

**_Dear Stefan,_**

**_I was afraid of telling you this in person so I'm writing to you instead. _**

**_I have this mindless adolescent fondness for you and I just wanted you to know so that I don't have to beat myself up about it. So here it is._**

**_Every day, I tell myself that I'll confess my love for you today but then I see your face and I remember I'd never be good enough for someone as amazing as you. I'm going to fall in love with you. You don't have to love me back. I'm going to give you my heart._**

**_And I don't expect you to love me back, because I can't even love myself. But when your lungs cave in from those cigars and you find it difficult to breathe or when all the trees have been torn from their roots and there is nothing left to admire, I'll be here. Loving you a little more each second but still not expecting you to love me back._**

**_Alice_**

_Stefan folded the letter carefully making sure not to rip it. He stared out the window and wondered where on earth she could be. _

_There was a feeling of abandonment yielding in, surrounding his mind like a plague. And everywhere Stefan went, the feeling of neglect followed. He didn't want to feel no more. He didn't want to be human no more. _

_There was a brief moment of solid quietness, where the birds in the city of Chicago did not even sing. Nor did a single leaf get blustered by the wind. Just the sound of desolation, for this told Stefan he was all alone again. He closed his eyes shut and imagined his humanity switch was right there in front of him. _

_ON and OFF_

_He imagined the sound of clicking._

_And just like that, the switch flipped OFF. In that very drastic change Stefan felt an undying quench in his stomach ripple. Like waves colliding against a cave in a hill. It was fear-provoking but it soaked all his emotions away. Stefan was hungry and the era of the Ripper had begun._

* * *

Gasping desperately for air Alice bolted upright from Stefan's bed. She quickly attempted to familiarise with her surroundings but couldn't exactly figure out where she was. Making sure she had caught her breath back again she hauled herself from the large bed and noticed a picture staring back at her on the bedside table. A picture of Katherine and immediately she could sense that her surroundings were in fact Stefan's room. Alice wondered why Damon had kept her picture, and why Stefan kept Katherine's.

Pushing the thought away from her half-conscious mind she jogged down the timber stairs, noticing that it was awfully quiet. Shadily, she moseyed over to the living room and noticed Stefan and Katherine standing beside each other, staring out the lengthened crystal window, talking. Alice looked around to search for Damon but there was no sign of him.

Stefan had obviously heard her come down but didn't want to pester her, always listening in on where she was. He craned his head, his green-haven eyes bolting with Alice's mocha-mousse globes. "You okay?" He asked her with unease in his voice.

Alice nodded as Katherine turned her body to face her. If anything, she would rather be with Damon than her. "Where's Damon?" Alice thought out loud accidentally.

With creased eyebrows, the Salvatore scratched the back of his neck. The sun had imitated its rays off of his ring and it blazed her eyes. Alice set her hand in front of her eyes to shield them from the radiant gleam. "He's at the Grill with Elena. Why?" She ignored his question for a moment, approaching him groggily as she picked up the bottled Whiskey that had belonged to Damon.

Alice glared up at Stefan. "Will he mind?" She asked and he shook his head, motioning for her to take a drink. The honeycomb-haired poured out the Whiskey slowly. On the other hand, Stefan stepped away from the window to grab something when Alice's skinny fingers released the bottled Whiskey from her grasp. Falling with a loud clash she stepped out from the sun's view, holding her hand in front of her face.

Jumping in shock, Katherine observed Alice as she squinted her eyes at the brightness, a smirk slyly creeping up on her aging face. She could sense something was happening to her. Or something had happened to her.

Whilst Stefan, contrariwise, jerked his body around, missing the scene. "What happened?" He questioned apprehensively.

"She dropped the glass by accident." Katherine answered for her, kneeling down, gathering all the broken pieces of glass together. When she saw that Stefan went to attend to her care, Katherine took a sharp piece of glass and deliberately cut the palm of her hand.

There was a sound that echoed in her ears. Like water dripping from a tap. Except this sound came with a smell too. An unacquainted smell that itched her taste buds, sending horrible thoughts racing through her mind. "What's that smell?"

Stefan looked at her with a peculiar expression. "What smell?" And, before he could even let Alice reply, he inhaled some of the smell too. A very familiar smell. One he wished he could never smell again. It was the smell of warm, delectable blood that came flowing out of Katherine's hand. "You can smell that?" He asked her.

Alice's eyes were now broad with anxiety. "What is it?" She begged him to answer but Stefan's almond shaped eyes were searching the floor in confusion. "Stefan what is that? It smells – It smells –"

"Good?" Katherine completed, a stylish eyebrow raised. Carefully, she elevated off her knees and squeezed her injured hand so that the blood trickled instantaneously. Luring Alice to want it even more than she could. _Drip. Drop. _The sound ricocheted even louder in her head, it felt like she was standing next to the bell tower as it was being rung.

Stefan jolted his body to face Katherine, purposely striding in front of Alice to halt her from getting anywhere near the blood. "What the hell did you do?" He queried indignantly.

"They say when you die your brain is still alive for 7 minutes, so technically Alice was still alive but all her other organs weren't working," Katherine started to explain, with a deceitful smirk mounting from the corners of her lips. "A good friend of mine, her name's Nadia, a vampire, she offered me a bit of her blood in a small tube in case I was ever hurt. Of course I didn't tell her that my body rejected vampire blood but I took it anyway. When Alice died I made her drink the blood that I had and _voila_, she's a vampire." Katherine tilted her head cunningly, smiling subtly. "To be honest Stefan, I didn't think it would work so you're welcome. I broke your curse, you can thank me later."

"Who said you could make my decisions for me Katherine?!" Stefan growled, he was about to lash out at her when Alice beat him to it. It seemed like she knew how to use her speed but it seemed like she couldn't control her thirst. She had Katherine pinned up against the wall, holding her by the neck with one hand whilst the other had her wounded hand open.

The Salvatore watched as Alice leaned in to take a bite, Katherine struggling to breathe. With the blink of an eye, Alice was now pinned up against the wall, Damon's fingers curled around her slim neck. The raven-haired brother smirked mockingly and shook his head, "I wouldn't do that if I were you." He advised. "You take a bite out of her and you won't be able to stop plus you'll be human again." Obviously he referred to Katherine being the cure. Damon eventually released Alice's neck from his clasp, her body dropping with a loud thud. After, he grabbed Katherine tightly by her arm, dragging her back to the Salvatore Dungeon. "You are such a brat you know that?" He said, his voice trailing off as he descended further away.

Stefan took Alice's weak body into his grasp and ascended up to his room, completely ignoring Elena's presence standing by the door.

* * *

Furious, he stepped into his bathroom and turned on the tap. The water gushing out, just like Katherine's blood. _How could this happen?_ He asked himself. With nothing better to do, he switched the tap off, realising just how irritating the sound of pouring water was. From outside he could hear the rain beating down heavily. It sounded like white noise, which was like silence but not empty. Stefan remembered finding Alice in the rain that very night. When she was normal, human.

Blaming himself for leaving her with Katherine he angrily punched the mirror in the bathroom. Shards of glass falling to the floor so painlessly, like light feathers from a pillow sinking liberally and in solitude.

"Stefan?" A hoarse voice called out from behind him. He didn't bother turning his head around for he knew exactly who that soft, angelic voice belonged to. "Are you okay?" She called out.

The Salvatore shook his head multiple times in divergence. "No I'm not okay Alice. It's all my fault, you're a vampire because of me." He said with a wounded manner.

Alice stepped forward but decided it was probably best not to take another one, in case. She had never seen his 'Ripper' side so who knows what he might be like when he's angry. "No one's blaming you Stefan. I'm not perfectly happy becoming a vampire but I want to." She admitted at will.

Stefan's body became rigid as he turned around to face her. "It's not that easy Alice."

She inched closer now, their bodies were almost touching. Alice was giving him a sympathetic look. "Don't make it any harder than it already is then Stefan." She reached her hand out but hesitated, she didn't know for sure if the curse had disappeared. Daringly, she touched Stefan's cheekbone with her finger. Alice gasped at the electric shock it had given her. The shock of the taciturnity from his impeccable skin. "There are feelings that we forgot. Give them time Stefan."

Stefan impatiently settled his lips against hers. He felt the last bit of warmth absent in her that had not escaped before she died. The last little bit of her humanity that she could ever grab before he would help her. In their bitter sweet madness he was still so in love with her.

"It's really not that easy Alice." Stefan repeated again as he pulled away.

She nodded with melancholy, agreeing. "Right." She whispered faintly. "You're in love with Elena." Alice didn't even give Stefan the time to think about what she had said before taking off. Why would she even think that?

* * *

**_Dear Alice,_**

**_I write your name on each one of my cigarettes, hoping you'll burn up in smoke just like the tobacco and nicotine. I thought eventually you'd turn to ashes and disappear—but then I realized that you've been in my lungs this whole time. With each drag I took from the cigarettes, I was taking you in as well. Now look at me, I'm addicted to the way your name tastes and how each letter fills my lungs._**

**_You deserve flowers on your doorstep and coffee in the morning. You deserve notes left on your pillow and late night romances. You deserve honesty every day and to be kissed every hour. You deserve to be reminded how beautiful you are. _**

**_I can never give you the love that my brother gave to you. You don't need me to ruin your life that's why I can never give this letter to you and you can never know how I truly feel._**

**_Damon_**

Alice stared at the ink-stained paper she had found lying around Damon's room.

* * *

**please review! Please, please :p **

**I'm sorry for any mistakes but I hope you enjoyed.**


	7. Chapter 7

**Disclaimer: I own nothing but my OC.**

* * *

Chapter Seven

* * *

Alice took a look at the letter beneath it, and the one beneath that one, and the one beneath that one and so on.

**_January 4 1887. _**

**_May 18 1899. _**

**_August 10 1905. _**

**_September 2 1910._**

**_October 31 1918. _**

**_February 14 1923. _**

**_April 15 1940._**

"What are you doing?" A voice asked, startling her. She hurriedly attempted to hide the letters she had found when she realised that Damon was standing by the door with a suspicious expression.

Alice wanted to ask him what all these letters were, but she didn't want to make it hard on him either. "What are these letters?" She accidentally burst out loud. Realising what she had done, she bit on her tongue to stop herself from saying any more than she should have.

Damon gave her those eyes. The ones where nobody could really tell what he was thinking. He just stared at her blankly. "Didn't anyone ever tell you to not look through other people's things?" He questioned her, trying to dodge the interrogation.

Alice sighed, knowing she'd never get an answer out of him. He always seemed to keep all his personal thoughts to himself unless it was completely necessary. "Where's Elena?"

Damon's rigid shoulder muscles became loose, he closed the door with his boot and ambled over to Alice. "She went back to the Grill." He sensed something was upsetting her and he figured there must be only one person that could've done that. "Where's Stefan?"

"He said he wanted to be alone." She lied but even through her awfully convincing eyes Damon didn't buy any of it. He raised his eyebrows as if he were likeminded and walked over to a stilted desk sitting in his room where a glass and a half-empty bottle of whisky were laid out. Alice watched as he popped the lid open and dispensed it out gently. The sound was like a waterfall, flamboyant yet so stimulating. "Sorry for breaking into your room. I didn't know where else to go." Realising that Damon was obviously not happy that she had found his letters, Alice gradually stood up to walk out the door.

"I wrote those to you every day." He said stopping her midway through her walk. Alice paused and rotated herself so that she could see Damon's side. He seemed to be holding back something inside of him, his jaw was tightly clenched. "I never sent them."

"Why didn't you?"

Damon gulped down the last remaining of his whiskey. "I never knew where you were."

Alice furrowed her eyebrows and stepped closer. "But you did. In New Orleans 1942. You knew where I was."

Damon gave her those eyes again. The ones where he squinted, his eyes looking straight through her soul, her humanity. "You were still in love with Stefan. There was a part of me that wanted to shower you in all my letters but I couldn't. I couldn't bring myself to even talk to you."

Alice felt a tear form in her eyes but she couldn't feel it fall down her tainted cheek. "That's why you left –" She couldn't finish her sentence when she felt something scratch against her chest. Like a rake pulling all the autumn leaves to the side. That's what it felt like. A sensation of exhilarating hunger surpassed her entire body that Alice herself, found it difficult to even hold her head. She let out a thick cough. The Salvatore noticed that her face had suddenly become thinner, her cheekbones were now slightly visible, there were dark bruised circles underneath her eyes and she looked ill, sickly. "I feel dizzy." Alice pulled her hand to her head and rubbed her temples.

"You're hungry." He told her, opening a drawer as he fished out his secret stash of blood bags. When he turned around he caught glimpse of Alice tumbling to the floor but his undying infatuation with her brought him to catch her in time. Sitting down on the timber floor, Alice resting on him helplessly, and hungry. He popped the cap open, letting the smell of it linger up to her nose. "You need to feed."

Without even a second word Alice surrounded the cap with her mouth, sucking the delectable liquid. Her eyes immediately became enflamed and all she could do was continue. There was nothing in her that could stop her from feeding. She wanted more. She wanted it all. Alice made sure that there was no air left in the blood bag, she made sure it was empty. With a relieved moan she launched the blood bag to the floor and her eyes gradually returned back to normal. Even though she felt satisfied she would never have thought that drinking blood would be the only way for her to survive. Even though she admitted liking being a vampire she still couldn't stand the idea that she would have to one day go out there and hunt people. There was just something in her that wouldn't let herself lose it. Alice started to let out the tear that wouldn't fall, then after that followed her sob.

"What am I doing?" She asked herself with guiltiness. Although she hadn't even killed someone she knew she would have to if she wanted to stay alive. Alice clung onto Damon's arm, sobbing at her own nature. What had she got herself into?

Damon brushed her hair lightly and kissed the top of her head softly, trying his best to comfort him. "If you have good thoughts they will shine out your face like sunbeams and you will always look beautiful." He whispered to her ear. After he let a few minutes pass by for Alice to quieten down he then carried her to his bed, tucking her in, pulling the cover over her. Comforting her, making her feel safe.

* * *

Opening his own letter, Damon scanned the page first before starting from the top.

**_January 4 1887_**

**_Alice,_**

**_It's been quite some time since you never came back, I still think about you every day. I'm lonely._** **_What kind of loneliness? Every kind. I feel detached. Abandoned. As always. Repetition. So what, my love? So what? At first, I just wanted to run away. Now I have nowhere else to run to, nothing to run from. I don't belong anywhere, I don't want to go anywhere, and I just want to see you._**

**_Maybe I love you. Maybe I just like the sound my heart makes when I feel your touch. But I'm tired of waiting, I'm tired of doing nothing. I'm tired. This is the kind of tired that sleep can't fix. So please come back. You don't have to come back to me, come back to Stefan. I just want to see you again. _**

**_Damon_**

With a pained look he folded the letter neatly and shoved it into his back pocket, along with another letter he had kept. Loudly, he placed his glass on the desk and trotted up the stairs, his boots echoing against the timber floor. He wasn't sure what Stefan was doing. All he knew was that he was upstairs, locked in his room, being immature. Elena was still at the Grill with Matt and Katherine was…well she was in the dungeon. He opened the door to his chamber and noticed that his bed was empty. There was nobody inside. Concerned, Damon ambled over to his bathroom and slipped his head through but still he could not find Alice.

"Damn it Alice." He said as he dialled Stefan's number. When his brother picked up he stared out the window impatiently. "Is Alice with you?" He asked.

"No, I thought she was with you." Stefan answered.

Damon sarcastically forced a smile out even though his brother couldn't even see him. "She was. But now she isn't."

Through the phone Damon could sense that his sibling was getting anxious. "What do you mean she isn't?" He repeated. The older Salvatore confirmed what he had just said. "Damon, she could be anywhere by now. She's hungry."

"You think I don't know that Stefan?" He retorted. "Help me find your girlfriend."

"She's –" He paused and Damon could hear him sighing. "She's not my girlfriend."

Damon scrunched his face not exactly sure what he meant like that. _He did feel some sort of attraction to her didn't he? _"Well she's something to you." This time it was Damon who sighed.

"Do you have any idea where she could be?" Stefan pressed eagerly.

Damon's eyes searched outside his windows. He saw nothing but greenery. "Why don't you tell me Stefan? If you're a new vampire, hungry and damaged where would you go?

"The Grill."

The older Salvatore smiled sarcastically, the sun shining straight through his perfectly sculptured, pale face. "So many people, it's like a human buffet to her."

* * *

Stefan pushed the door to the Grill with force the people sitting nearby gave him a calculating look. The two brothers scanned their eyes for Alice but all they saw were numerous other people and Caroline kissing Tyler continuously; surprisingly Elena wasn't here. Damon figured that if Alice wasn't inside then she must already have a target that she's feeding on, outside. He shot his younger brother a 'i-think-i-know-where-she-is' look and Stefan followed him inside the kitchen and out the back door which led to the garbage area. The dark-haired Salvatore heard grunting coming from behind one of the large garbage cans, suspiciously, he slapped Stefan in the arm gesturing for him to follow.

They found the blonde quarterback lying helplessly on the cold ground and a russet-haired with her teeth sunk deep into his skin. "Oh you've got to be kidding me!" Damon mused with a disgusted look. "The quarterback? Seriously?!"

Stefan shrugged his shoulders not exactly sure how to answer before taking Alice by the shoulders and attempted to pull her off. She struggled a little and tried to fight her way out of Stefan's arms. Pissed that someone had interrupted her feeding time Alice bit into Stefan's wrist causing him to release her and wince in shock. Alice's eyes went normal for a second, shooting Stefan an apologetic expression.

"I'm sorry Stefan but –" She started, her eyes becoming enflamed again, the veins rising from beneath its surface. "I'm so hungry." And, with that, she turned her back on him and launched herself at Matt.

Alice was close to reaching the poor quarterback when Damon caught her by the throat and pinned her down to the ground. He was strong because he was old but a hungry and pissed off vampire like Alice seemed to be stronger. She tried to pull Damon's grasp off her neck, he wasn't strangling her, just imprisoning her.

"Don't." He advised fiercely.

"Get off me!" Alice hissed at him.

Damon shook his head, even though he'd been dying to kiss her, he was more than just angry at her for leaving. "Look at him Alice." He growled. "Look at him." Forcefully, he twisted her neck so that she could see his dying state. Poor Matt, always the victim of the supernatural world. "He's not a warm body for you to feed on."

Still imprisoned within Damon's clasp, Alice watched Stefan approach Matt with his bitten wrist and forced him to drink his blood. She saw where she had bitten him violently and suddenly her eyes…they changed. They morphed back to its original colour, the bronze-like colour that glimmered with selflessness and innocence. Alice began to tear up at the sight of her own wrong-doing. How on earth did she manage to that? "Oh my God." She said through a gasp. Finally Damon released his hand away from her neck and sat down on the ground, sighing with frustration. "Oh my God, Damon I did that to him. I –"

Alice put a hand to her mouth and gasped again, whilst Damon looked over to Stefan who appeared pained and a little dejected. The older brother decided to scoop Alice into his arms and carry her out of the scene, leaving Stefan to take care of Matt and help him bandage the bite wound up.

* * *

With a powerful force, Damon kicked Stefan's bedroom door open and gently laid Alice on top. Even though she should've calmed down by now she still wasn't over the fact that she had fed on a fresh, warm and alive human being. He pulled the covers over Alice's crying state and slowly leaned in to kiss her on the forehead. Before walking away he left her a reassuring smile. As if to say that no matter what she did, Damon would always love her. Alice caught his wrist in time, pulling him back to her.

"Please don't leave." She said so faintly. "I don't want to be alone."

Damon looked at her with sincerity and sat down leisurely on the bed, stroking a strand of her hair out of her face. "I'd never leave you." He promised her.

Alice pulled out a weak smile before sniffing. "I never finished reading any of your letters." She mentioned. "Will you read one?" She asked him contently.

Damon smiled back at her and nodded slightly. "Yeah." Then he fished out the other letter he kept from behind his pocket. One which was dated;

**_May 18, 1899._**

**_Alice,_**

**_It's funny because I can't even remember the very first time I heard your name. How do you not remember something that made such a big difference in your life?_**

**_I had a dream of you last night. And in my dream you touched me. No, not just my body. I could feel our universes connect for a second. I've been dreaming about you a lot lately. But in every dream you die just like a flower does. My dreams of you are so violent, all swirled in red, like the storm in Jupiter's eyes. It was probably nothing but it felt like the world. _**

**_I hope you're happy wherever you are. If you even are still breathing. I hope there are days when you fall in love with being alive because I have those days when I fall in love with missing you. Its torment but I like the pain it gives me, I crave you Alice. I crave your fingers entwined with mine and the way you breathe my name on my neck. _**

**_So this is to the one who makes me weak in the knees, to the one with the soul of a poet. To the one I love._**

**_Damon._**

* * *

**I'm sorry that it sucks but it took me 3 days to write this because I have writer's block and I've been in the hospital so I couldn't really concentrate. When I'm feeling better I will edit this chapter and make it better because the vocab and stuff SUCK. If anyone was wondering what my OC looked like, I have no idea but I had a picture in my mind of Margarita Mamun, with her hair down obviously. Or Lucy Hale.**

**Please please review, as always. They make me smile very much. ****I hope you enjoyed.**


	8. Chapter 8

**Disclaimer: I own nothing but my OC.**

* * *

Chapter Eight

* * *

_"Miss Romanova, one of the Salvatore's wants to see you." Yana announced, bowing politely. _

_Alice quickly slipped her other ear ring in before elevating herself from her comfy chair. She shot her handmaiden a smile. "You know you can call me Alice. We're not in Russia anymore." Yana bobbed her head with gratitude and scurried away just as Alice exited her chamber. Her footsteps were loud as her floors were made out of wood, of course she had to make sure to pick her dress up on the way down in case she caught any of the foul dirt that lay on the floor. Alice noticed the black suit and top hat but when the Salvatore rotated, she was suddenly hit by confusion. _

_"Alisa." Damon greeted peeling his top hat off of his curly bound head. _

_The russet-haired sighed and asked, "You shouldn't be here Damon –" _

_But was suddenly interrupted by the impatient Salvatore himself. "I know." He quickly added. "I just wanted to apologise for…" He struggled to find something to be sorry for. "For my reckless behaviour." _

_"You mean when you kissed me?" The Russian retorted._

_Damon scrunched his face. "You kissed me." He argued._

_"Well you didn't stop me." Alice then argued back. _

_By now, Damon was beginning to feel the frustration. "Neither did you."_

_Without anything to argue back, Alice kept her mouth shut by biting on her tongue. She knew it was wrong of her to kiss him but it felt like the right thing to do – at the time, at least. _

_"Alice I know there's something between us and we both know it. You can try to deny it all you want but I know that you feel something for me." Damon looked up, as if he were wondering. "Conceited as that sounds." He insulted himself._

_The Russian thought long and hard. Debating whether Damon really was right. Maybe she really did have feelings for her fiancée's brother; but it was wrong, in so many ways. They were brothers for one! And both of them could rip her to shreds with their teeth if someone were to find out. _

_"Alisa? Who are you speaking with?" Her Mother, Anna, shouted from her bedroom upstairs. _

_Panicked, Alice pushed Damon towards the front door. "You have to leave. My Mother will think the wrong way if she sees you here." She begged, an indicative that Damon had to leave. _

_Damon wanted to push his adoration away but he had to respect her needs, even if he didn't want to. "Wait – But I want to meet her." _

_Alice scoffed quietly and shook her head rapidly. "No you don't." Then she unbolted the front door wide enough for the Salvatore to realise that he really did need to go. "Damon?" _

_Refusing, he stood still and stared at her blankly. "I'm not leaving this house until you tell me what's going on with us."_

_By now, there were footsteps shuffling about from upstairs and all Alice could feel was a punch in her heart that throbbed her mouth to say yes, yes she did have feelings for him and she couldn't deny them. Eagerly, Alice leaned forward and immediately planted her soft lips against the dark-haired Salvatore. In that moment she knew she had done something wrong. She knew she would have to make a choice there and then, Stefan or Damon? Which one was it going to be? But it was too early to tell. Too early to fall in love with Damon. Pulling away she saw the astonished look on Damon's face and Alice couldn't help but laugh quietly._

_"Alisa, I'm coming down, I hope you are dressed." Anna kept shouting from above. Alice quickly shoved Damon out the door and giggled watching him stumble over the front steps. But then he came rushing back to the door again, this time with an envelope ring that had the word __**вечность**__ in his hand. _

_"Run away with me." _

_Alice scoffed. "What?"_

_"Runaway with me. We can go to Rome, Paris, Berlin, wherever you want." He offered with poise._

_"Damon I can't. I just moved here –" _

_He interrupted swiftly. "I know. That's why I'm giving you this ring, we can start our eternity together. Just tell me when." _

_Alice felt flattered by his remark but she knew she couldn't. She was engaged for Christ's sake! It would be incredibly terrible of her to leave Stefan just like that. Alice did not once touch Damon's gift, even though she wanted to, instead she closed up his hand and squeezed it tightly. _

_"Keep it." She said and almost instantaneously Damon's grin dropped into the most dejected frown. "I'll wear it when I'm ready." Then, slowly, Alice stood on her tiptoes to kiss Damon on his light-skinned forehead before caressing his cheekbone with her delicate thumb. "Eternity is ours Damon."_

**_Вечность – means eternity in Russian_**

* * *

Alice lifted her head to take a breath before biting even deeper on the innocent woman. She loved how compulsion worked, she loved the feeling of being in control, being authorative, overpowering. Ashley, was the woman's name, she did nothing but stand perfectly still. Alice was indulging herself in her own food she hadn't noticed the pair of masculine hands that had took her by the shoulders. With a quick sound of a breeze whipping, Alice was against the wall, Damon's hand by her throat.

"What the hell are you doing?!" He asked her angrily through his gritted pearly whites.

Alice laughed as she wiped the blood dripping around her mouth. "Don't try and deny it Damon. We both know you want a taste too." She mused with a smirk. "She's your blood type too."

"You've turned into a mini-Katherine all of a sudden." Damon noticed.

Alice shrugged her shoulders, feeling amused by the situation. "Surprise." She joked then her eyes recognised the other brother standing behind Damon, shooting her a foul scowl. "And what about you? I heard Ripper Stefan had a trademark of ripping the victim's head off."

"Shut up." Damon demanded squeezing Alice's throat tighter.

The russet-haired winced but she continued to mock the Salvatore brother's more. "No why don't you, Damon? I'm so sick of you whining over how you can't get the girl, you're never good enough, you're too damaged that when you get what you deserve, you don't know how to react so you ruin it." Alice scoffed looking up at the cerulean sky. "What a lame excuse for a brother."

"I'll take care of her." Stefan said referring to Ashley and completely ignoring what Alice had just said.

"Are you just going to ignore me now Stefan? Is that how it works? You become attached to me for a day and then you leave. That's what you did. You never searched for me, you gave up – because deep inside that Ripper heart of yours Katherine was the one that you really loved. I was just a rebound. I'll turn you into what you hate the most Stefan and it will rip you to pieces, just like you did to me."

Frustrated and furious as to why Alice would even think of saying those words Stefan stomped towards her but kept his hands clenched in a fist. "I thought you were dead!" He snapped. "You could've said one word. One word to let me know you were alive and I would've come looking for you Alice."

"Two words and we would've been married. It's a shame I never came back isn't it?" Alice retorted with a devious smirk.

Damon, also frustrated, immediately let go of Alice's throat but then he snapped her neck and let her body fall to the cold hard ground. "Now I'm getting tired of your petty jokes."

* * *

Later on that day, Stefan had agreed to let Alice stay in his bedroom until she had risen from the dead whilst Damon spent the day with Elena. That left Stefan and Katherine alone in the house, although Katherine was still locked up inside the Salvatore dungeon.

Stefan's phone vibrated in his pocket as he gulped down the last bit of his brother's whiskey. "Hello?" He answered.

"Hello Stefan." A raspy, conniving voice replied from the other side of the phone. The deceitful voice obviously belonged to the one and only, Katherine Pierce. "I hear a pretty Russian vampire has been naughty today."

"What do you want Katherine?" He asked her trying to peel her mysterious plan out of her.

"I'm doing fine Stefan, thanks for asking."

Stefan set the glass down on the timer desk. "How did you even get signal down there?"

"You should thank the Grill."

Stefan used his speed to rush downstairs and check in on the dungeon and surprisingly found nobody inside. It was silent, too silent that he could hear a buzzing in his ears so he returned upstairs. "How the hell did you get out?" He pressed.

"Remember my good friend Nadia? She's more than just a good friend, quite loyal actually." Katherine replied. "You know Stefan, I prefer no humanity Alice; it's like looking in a mirror."

"It was you wasn't it?"

"How could it be me? She hates me remember?" Katherine paused to wait for Stefan to reply but when she realised that he wasn't going to, she continued. "Alice is sired to Nadia, Stefan. I presume it's because they're related somehow but either way she's sired to her. Obviously, neither of them have feelings for each other, that'd be just be a bit weird but Nadia was the one who switched it off, not me."

"Wait – they're related? What, like sisters?" Stefan kept pressing, less interested in the fact that Alice was thirsty for blood.

Even through the phone Stefan could sense that Katherine was smirking through the phone. "I'd say more like distant cousins. But that doesn't matter, I've created a problem all you have to do is solve it." He heard her giggle with delight. "God I love playing games with you Salvatores."

"This isn't a game Katherine!" Stefan growled.

"Oh come on, your life was getting boring anyway. Damon got the girl and now you're all alone, why else do you think Alice coincidentally showed up on the road that very night?" Katherine queried.

"It was you all along." Stefan mentioned. "You planned this?"

"What do you say Stefan? You want to play?" She quizzed.

The Salvatore was ready to reply when he felt delicate hands wrap themselves around his neck. Stefan stumbled to the floor with a loud thud and so did his phone. It seemed as though Alice had awoken from her death and took revenge for her broken neck. She bent down to pick up the phone and held it to her ear.

With a deceitful smile she spoke, "Stefan said 'Game on Katerina.'"

* * *

_The sound of a carriage breaking interrupted Stefan from his journal. He stood up and ambled over to the window, pulling the curtain ajar with his finger. He watched as a foreign-looking woman stepped outside, followed by what looked like her husband and walked together towards the house further down the narrow street. _

_"Hey Damon?" Stefan called out. _

_"Mm?"_

_"When did we get neighbours?" He asked._

_Damon jumped up with delight. "Oh the Reynolds family have arrived?" Stefan nodded not exactly sure how to answer. "If I remember correctly they are Russian Aristocrats looking for new opportunities here in the US. The man's called Dmitri and his lovely lady I think is called Anna." _

_"Who is she?" He asked, nodding his head in the direction of the most beautiful girl both brother's had ever laid their eyes upon. She was holding her navy coloured dress, her hair in tight coils and her face was just so enthralling it was difficult not to stare in awe._

_"Their daughter I assume, Alice I think it was." Damon replied trying to regain his memory. "What do you think brother?" He continued. Stefan furrowed his eyebrows before tilting his head, hinting to Damon that he needed to elaborate on his question. "Reminds me of Katherine if you ask me."_

_And, with that, Damon walked away. As if he felt disappointed that it wasn't Katherine herself. "I have a feeling she's different." _

_Stefan heard his brother chortle loudly. "What makes you think that? She had the same look as Katherine."_

_"I just have a feeling she's different." _

* * *

**I'm very sorry for not updating, I've been seriously ill****. Please forgive me! I****t's not my best writing because my head is all over the place but I tried my best and I hope you enjoyed it.**

**Please review, they always make my day better and they make me smile tons!**


	9. Chapter 9

**Disclaimer: I own nothing but my OC.**

* * *

**Chapter Nine**

* * *

_The door moaned open and she was hit by silence. Alice stood still for a moment trying to figure out why it was so incredibly silent. She knew her parents weren't out, it was her birthday, and they never leave the house whenever it was her birthday. Finally, she stepped inside whilst closing her rosy umbrella. Alice placed it on the side carefully._

_"Mother?" She called out in Russian._

_No answer._

_Maybe her Mother and Father were sleeping. With a peculiar feeling that ran down her spine she urged herself to search the kitchen. _

_"Mother, I come bearing good news." She shouted again with a smile even though nobody could hear her. "Mother?" Alice waited for a reply but once again, all that replied was the eerie sound of silence. "Yana?" Instantly there was a faint banging that emerged from the floor above her. Alice looked up and she saw the dust that was falling from the vibration of the banging. "Yana is that you?" She asked. Three bangs answered._

_Hurriedly, Alice hauled up her dress and sprinted up the stairs eagerly. When she approached the top of the stairs she was horrified by the sight in front of her. There was a huge splatter of what seemed like blood painted on the wall. She heard the bangs again and they seemed like they were coming from her parent's room so she followed the sound. _

_The door was ajar open. Delicately she pushed it open with her fingers and Alice held her breath for what she saw made her world come crumbling down inside of her. She wished it wasn't real but it was, her Father was lying on the floor drowning in his own pool of blood. Her Mother was lay on the floor with her head facing the window._

_"Mother?" _

_She followed her Mother's lifeless gaze and saw her brother sitting, his head hung low, with a kitchen knife stuck in his stomach. Alice was mortified she couldn't even let out a tear. Wishing it wasn't real she followed the direction of her Father's blood pool and saw that it was running towards her blonde handmaiden. Luckily she was alive, but barely. _

_Yana was sitting, leaning against the bedside table, her fingers reaching to touch Mr Romanov's blood. Alice dashed over, kneeling quickly to attend to her handmaiden's care. "Yana, what happened?" But she knew that Yana wouldn't speak; her throat was slashed. Though she still had enough energy to write; using the blood of Alice's father. It read:_

**_Сжечь дом и оставить _**

_"No, I'm not leaving you here. I'll take you to a hospital –" Alice pleaded but Yana shook her head in refusal. "Who did this Yana? Who?" She pressed. _

_The petite blonde reached out her finger again to touch the blood and began spelling but three letters later and she began to cough up blood. Thick ounces of blood that weren't very pleasing, it splattered all over Alice's pallid rubicund dress but she didn't mind. Now was not the time to care about something so pointless. _

_"No Yana don't die on me please." Alice began to cry out as she gently laid Yana's head on her lap. Softly, she brushed the irritating pieces of hair out of her pale face. "I can help you. You just have to hold on." She cried out but her body was telling her to stay still and just comfort her. "Stefan – Stefan, I need Stefan's blood. I need –" Alice said through an inhale of air. But by the time she began crying Yana had managed to choke on her own blood and she died smiling at the kindness Alice had given to her. "No Yana, open your eyes! Yana don't leave me here. Please, open your eyes. No –" Alice's eyes glanced over to the bloody message that she had written and saw:_

_**Kat**_

_ She immediately stopped crying and somehow she managed to gather all the missing pieces together of who killed her family. Alice pushed Yana's head to the side and she noticed two punctures on the skin of her neck. It looked deep and it looked dry. There was only one person who could've done this to her family whose name started with 'Kat' _

_"Katerina." _

**_Сжечь дом и оставить – Burn us and leave_**

* * *

Damon grunted. "You broke his neck?!" He exclaimed.

Alice shrugged her shoulders unquestionably. "You broke mine but you weren't here so I broke his."

The Salvatore scrunched his face and pulled a disagreeing face. "When he wakes up he's gonna be royally pissed at you."

"What do I care? I have you." She mused jokingly smirking.

Damon pulled yet another disagreeing face though Alice could see straight through it. "Not really. I'm with Elena."

Alice groaned loudly as she propelled her lightweight limbs on the opposite couch. She crossed one leg over the other as she fondled with her hair. "Elena, Elena, Elena. It's always about poor, delicate Elena. Doesn't anyone care about anybody else other than her? Take Nadia for example, I bet you don't even know that she's Katherine's daughter."

With a scoff the older sibling replied, "What?"

But Alice just ignored him and continued on her speech. "Or the fact that Katherine butchered my entire family."

"No wonder you act alike." He joked pouring himself a glass of whiskey. Silence loitered in the room for a moment until Damon sighed. "Turn your humanity back on." He demanded.

Alice laughed faintly. "Let's roll the answer dice shall we?" She asked whilst making a tossing motion with her hand as if she were throwing a dice. She pretended to look at the invisible dice before nodding. "No." Then she lay back down on the couch with a thud.

"If you don't turn it back on you'll never feel your love for Stefan ever again." He told her and Alice's eyes proximately shot up.

She bolted upright and rotated her head towards Damon. "Just because I can't feel doesn't mean I don't remember how much you cared."

"What are you talking about?"

"I'm talking about this." Alice fished out the Eternity ring Damon had offered her. She had been keeping it with her ever since she left the US. "Before I left to Russia I stole it from your pocket where you usually kept it. I wore it every day until I got cursed."

Damon squinted his eyes, inching closer. "You never told me –"

"I didn't tell anybody."

Unexpectedly, with a loud exasperating gasp, Stefan anchored upright from the couch and struggled to familiarise with his surroundings. He panted for a few brief moments but when his attention was on Alice it slowed back to its original pace. Slow and heavy.

"You broke my neck?!" He exclaimed.

Damon raised his glass at Alice and gave him the i-told-you-so face. "Told you he'd be royally pissed." Alice rolled her eyes and elevated herself up off the leather couch before striding over to the front door. "Where are you going?"

She turned the knob and opened it before twisting her head to reply back. "I'm bored. I'm hungry. I'm going." She was about to leave the door when Damon used his speed to propel himself in front of her pathway. He stood tall and intimidating in front of her but she didn't flinch once.

"No you're not." He said.

Alice scoffed and her lips rose into a smirk again. "Catch me if you can Damon." And, before she even left with a breeze, she managed to squeeze in a wink. Damon groaned and snatched his leather jacket.

"Come on Stefan we're going to the Grill."

* * *

The Salvatore brothers angrily exited the Grill with an exhausted look on their faces. "If she's not in there then where is she?" Damon asked his brother scratching the back of his neck, frustrated.

Stefan remained silent. He had his eye fixated on a poster that was vigorously flying but it was pinned onto the wall. He used his vampire features to good use and examined it closely. On the poster it had the words 'Soccer Game tonight at 5:30p, North Carolina field"

"Stefan?"

The younger Salvatore rotated around to face his brother and then he knew exactly where Alice was. "I know where she is." The pair walked off to their car and strapped themselves in just as Damon wheezed the engine to life. "Catch me if you can. It's a game. She's playing a game. She wants us to catch her, if we catch her we win."

Damon scrunched his face and raised his thumbs from the wheel. "I think I know how to play that Stefan. Does she think it's still 1886 or what?"

His brother shook his head. "No, we used to play it in a field in North Carolina." Damon stepped on the pedal faster. "Katherine said she was playing a game too, I think Alice is in it, except we're against Katherine to catch her."

"So what happens when we catch her before the evil, slut vampire does?" Damon quizzed.

Stefan shrugged. "I don't know. But we have to make sure we get to her before Katherine does."

* * *

The crowd roared as the music uplifted the mood. Damon and Stefan squinted their eyes at the luminous lights overlooking them both. The older Salvatore sighed and threw his hands in the air.

"How are we supposed to find her? There's too many people." He said.

Damon turned his head towards his brother and he saw him nod his head in the direction of the huge screen. "I think I found her." The two brothers witnessed Alice grin as she pulled Matt Donovan, the quarterback that she had fed on, into a kiss. She was on the Kiss Cam.

"The quarterback?!" Damon exclaimed. "Seriously? Again?!"

"Is that Elena and Matt?" Stefan pondered.

"What?"

Stefan pushed Damon inside the stadium itself as soon as he saw Alice exit the row that she was sat on. "We have to follow her."

"Seriously though, why is it _always_ the quarterback?" Damon contemplated, his eyebrows furrowing themselves.

The brothers used their speed to save time and followed closely behind Alice. They watched as she compelled someone to walk with her onto the empty field behind the stadium where it was still dewy from last night's rain. They stayed hidden behind a wall and Stefan watched silently as she attacked the guy rapidly. He felt his heart get weighty, descending. He felt another hollowness surround the pit in his stomach. He never wanted to see her like this, to have to watch her go completely over the edge by herself and he couldn't do anything to stop it.

Damon stepped in front to stop the accident when Stefan put a firm hand to his chest. "She'll run away. Don't." He advised.

"How are we going to get her to turn her humanity back on? It was bad enough dealing with no humanity Elena but Alice –" Damon laughed half-heartedly, brushing his hand through his hair.

Stefan sighed, his head hanging low. "I don't know what to do Damon. I don't." He solely admitted.

Then, an idea popped into Damon's little head. He thought about the lengths he went through to get Elena's humanity back on. "We had to pretend that we killed someone Elena really loved to get her to turn it back on." He mentioned.

Stefan folded his arms as he pursed his lip. "What are you saying?"

"Alice has no family left –" Damon knitted his eyebrows together, then he glanced over to Alice who was still feeding on the poor guy. "I have an idea."

* * *

He charged himself at her, although he was told to grab her by the throat he couldn't. He couldn't bring himself to hurt her, even if he knew that she would come back anyway, he just couldn't. Stefan was horrified that she had managed to feed on 3 bodies in the time that they were gone. He kept her imprisoned in his embrace.

Alice craned her head and Stefan saw her enflamed eyes again. They were monstrous and the petrifying thing about looking into them was that he could see his own reflection. That was what he looked like when he was the Ripper. A monster.

Alice sighed in sarcastic defeat. "Honestly Stefan, the more you try to get me to turn my humanity back on the less it's gonna work."

He remained silent.

All of a sudden Damon stormed in with his hand tightly gripped around Katherine's arm. Oddly enough, Katherine was dressed as Elena.

"Look who I found pretending to be my girlfriend." Damon yelled to Stefan.

Katherine tried to yank her arm away but Damon's grasp was just too tight and strong. "Alright, you caught her. You win, now let me go." Her abductor shot her a disagreeing face.

"I don't think so." Damon's eyes peeled themselves off of his brother and laid them on Alice's coffee-tinted orbs. "You." He said.

"What?" She asked.

"You don't have any family right?" He questioned. She nodded. "Turn it on Alice or I break her neck."

Katherine's eyes widened and she looked up at him. "What? No, Damon, you agreed to let me go –"

"Shut up." He snapped.

Alice laughed with delight whilst she smeared the blood around her mouth away. "What is she to me? She butchered my entire family remember? She's nothing."

Damon tilted his head. "Did she ever tell you that she looked after you whilst you were searching for my brother? After she put the Sun and Moon curse on you she felt guilty for what she did so she followed you everywhere." Alice then too, tilted her head in confusion. "She wanted to make sure you died safely, that you didn't hit your head. She was like a mother to you, so tell me that Katherine wasn't the closest you had to a mother or so help me God I _will_ break her neck."

"Break her neck. I. Don't. Care." She replied.

"Damon –" Katherine began.

"Fine." He said and, with one swift movement, Damon had broken Katherine's neck.

Alice watched her body plummet to the wet grass and she blinked. No emotion in her face. Nothing had changed in her at all. Alice still had humanity switch turned off.

"Was Elena okay with you breaking her neck?" She asked and that's when Stefan freed his embrace off Alice. Katherine pretending to be Elena was actually Elena pretending to be Katherine. She had agreed to play a part in the act if it meant happiness for Stefan.

A sinister laugh echoed from behind them. Damon craned his body around to see the one and only, Katherine Pierce, with her accomplice Nadia.

"That's what they do Alisa, they lie to you. That's what they have been doing." She started. "I never felt guilty for putting that curse on you." Alice's hand flinched when she heard this and Stefan was the only one to notice it. "I'm not sorry for killing your family either Alice."

With a deafening bellow Alice angrily charged herself towards Nadia, not Katherine. The two stood still for a moment and Katherine was desperate to know what had happened. She didn't expect Alice to react like that and she was suddenly afraid of what she might have done to her daughter. Nadia gasped as her mouth gaped open to say something but nothing had exited her mouth. And, Alice watched as a shiny tear dropped out of her eye and rolled down her flawless olive-skinned face. Nadia fell backwards onto the ground and Katherine saw her daughter's still-beating heart pumping in the palm of Alice's bloody hand.

"I'm not sorry for killing your daughter either Katerina." She said.

* * *

**Please please please review! **

**Thank you again if you did, I hope you enjoyed. **


	10. Chapter 10

**Disclaimer: I own nothing but my OC.**

* * *

Chapter Ten

* * *

_Volgograd, Russia 1885_

_The bandwagon stopped in front of the Romanov's mansion and the horses whickered loudly. Alice stepped away from the curtain in her bedroom and hurried downstairs to meet with her family. She saw Yana waiting for her at the bottom, she looked different. Her hair was down, and Alice hadn't realised how incredibly long it was. It stopped just above Yana's hips and the colour was just so divine, it wasn't a dirty blonde nor was it a bleach blonde colour, rather an electric blonde. Alice envied her own handmaiden's beauty. _

_"Miss Romanova," Yana greeted her as she curtseyed. "Is there something you want me to do?" _

_Alice smiled, hopping off the last step, shaking her head. "You should come with us." She suggested. _

_Yana shook her head stubbornly. "I can't. Your father has asked me to stay and look after your brother, after all, he is a bit of an alcoholic." _

_"To hell with my brother, he can take good care of himself." Yana tried to hold back a smile but failed to do so. She shoved her blonde locks behind her small ears. "Go and pack your bags now. I know you don't have much clothes but I'll buy you some." Yana smiled bigger as her face instantly lit up. _

_She curtseyed again. "Thank you so much." She said before scurrying away to pack her things. _

_At that moment Alice's older brother approached her with a glass of bourbon in his hand. His face looked like a masculine version of Alice's, except his nose was quite broader and his eyes were argent-coloured instead of brown. They complimented his dark complexion and dark hair, along with his structural jawline. Surprisingly, he was dressed already, appropriate and formal too. "He can take good care of himself?" He repeated. _

_Alice nodded. "Yes because you will. Promise me you will." She demanded. Her brother remained still. "Isaak!" _

_Isaak chuckled half-heartedly and traced an 'X' where his heart was. "Cross my heart, hope to die." _

_"Stop drinking too, you'll burst your kidney and you won't even know it." She said and Isaak laughed, gulping down the last bit of his bourbon. "Are you sure you don't want to come with us?" _

_He nodded. "Yes, by the time you leave Volgograd I'll be in Ukraine with the rest of the soldiers." Alice didn't reply because she didn't know what to say. This was her first time being away from her brother, she had been closer to Isaak than she was with Daniil when they were little and they grew up to become best friends. _

"It'll be boring without you brother." She said dejectedly.

_Isaak stepped forward and kissed his sibling on the forehead, enveloping his arms around her. "Daniil's not fond of the word 'fun' but you'll have to show him what it means."_

_Precipitously, the front door burst open and a duplicate of Isaak showed up. Except this duplicate was Daniil. He looked identically similar except for the fact he was an inch taller and his hair was ruffled rather than gelled. "We have to go." He announced, his eyes met with his twin and Alice noticed Daniil's jaw tense up. "Can you hurry up?" _

_Alice swivelled her body around and gave one last embrace to Isaak. Pulling back, he gave a weak smile and said, "Don't miss me too much." _

_"Miss Romanova." Yana appeared from the side with her things and a hat, although she was talking to Alice her eyes were on Isaak. Alice smiled and motioned for her to walk closer to which the handmaiden did. The two strode to the door but before they stepped out Alice craned her head and said, "Goodbye Isaak." _

_Just before Daniil closed the door to initiate their leave he shot his younger brother a dirty scowl. "Take care of her will you?" Isaak asked, breaking the intense stare between them. Daniil reluctantly nodded and eventually he closed the door. _

* * *

There was a knock on Stefan's now-open door. He rotated his body and saw that his older brother was standing tall with a disconsolate look on his face. Stefan placed Katherine's picture on his desk and folded his arms.

"You found anything?" He asked.

Damon shook his head. "Nothing, no death records or articles of a fire in Bulgaria in 1886." He replied.

Frustrated, Stefan pinched the top of his nose. "How is she?" He asked ignoring the subject for a bit.

"As much as I like the sound of her tears falling down her face, I feel the slightest bit sympathetic. But she broke one my chairs. However," Damon said emphasising his 'however' "I think she's stopped crying, I can't hear her sobs. Can you?" Damon queried and Stefan shook his head. "I did find a birth record of a Daria Romanova born in Volgograd, Russia." He said bringing the subject back.

"Does it say who her parents were?" Stefan pressed.

Damon presented his brother the printed copy of the birth record as he stepped inside. "Marko and Anya Aminasova, they gave the baby up for adoption straight away." He replied, he watched Stefan furrow his eyebrows at the paper.

He shook his head in disagreement and confusion. "That doesn't make sense, the baby's a Romanova and her parents are Aminasova's?"

"It's an anagram ditto. I actually believed in this '2 brains are better than 1' crap until now." A familiar, cunning voice said. The brother's glanced up and saw a weary-looking Katherine sloping against the doorframe of Stefan's room.

"What?" Damon asked.

Katherine sighed loudly and started to explain. "You remember Daniel don't you? Turns out there was another Daniel too who's probably still alive."

"A doppelgänger?" Stefan interrupted.

"A twin brother." She replied. "Daniel had a twin brother called Isaac but it used to be spelt with a K back then. He was a soldier that was due to be stationed in Ukraine the day Alice and her family left, so he had to make a choice. **Marko Aminasov** is an anagram for **Isaak Romanov**."

"And you happen to know this?" Damon said.

"I found his wife's diary. Yana Romanova."

Damon knitted his eyebrows and gaped his mouth open. "Alice's handmaiden?" Katherine nodded and then Damon joined the next piece of the puzzle together. "**Anya** is an anagram for **Yana.**"

She folded her arms. "Don't act so surprised Damon, it was all too good to be true anyway. She was just like Alice, beautiful, smart, kind, that's why you got caught up in her silly web didn't you?" Stefan on the other hand, did act very surprised. It was typical for Damon to hook up with women but Alice's handmaiden? Stefan refused to believe it was true so he tried to block the thought away from his mind. "Anyway, she wrote in her diary that before she became their puppet Isaac and Yana had met in a war camp. Then you know, the typical damsel-in-distress fell in love, they got married young and in secret then eventually she gave birth to a daughter called Daria. Then she wrote about how she was afraid that Isaac's family wouldn't accept her because she wasn't rich blah blah, so she gave the baby up and signed up to be a maid, just so she could be with him every day. The end."

"Wait –" Stefan said. "You said that Isaac might still be alive."

Katherine stood upright. "Oh I forgot to mention that Isaac became a vampire soon after she gave birth."

Damon asked, "How?"

Katherine scrunched her face and shrugged her shoulders. "I don't know. Yana didn't write that part in her diary."

A vibrating sound interrupted their conversation. It sounded like it came from Damon's pocket so he fished it out and answered Elena's plea. He walked away and left Stefan and Katherine by themselves.

She glared at him with a curious yet mischievous look on her face. "What's with you?"

"What are you talking about?" He asked.

"You have that look." Katherine said.

"What look?"

"That look that says 'I'm sad so I'm going to write in my diary' look." She replied.

Stefan pursed his lip. "I'm fine."

Katherine scoffed loudly, unfolding her arms as she inched closer to him. "Sure you are Stefan. You are the epitome of fine." She said sarcastically.

"Katherine what do you want?" He quizzed her with a clueless expression.

She sighed and shrugged her shoulders with a disappointed look on her face. "I don't want anything from you Stefan. I just want some leverage so I can get over Nadia's death quickly. I hate this feeling."

"Katherine Pierce's true colours finally show." Katherine rolled her eyes. "You've been running for 500 years, I refuse to believe that you haven't thought about switching your humanity off."

"I have thought about it. Every vampire has, it's our biggest weakness. I've convinced myself that it's okay to deal with the emotional pain rather than bury it and feel it years later when I turn it back on." Stefan remained silent. "Of course you wouldn't know anything about that, they don't call you the Ripper for nothing." Again, Stefan remained silent. "You're scared aren't you Stefan?"

"Scared of what?"

"That she'll turn into you." Katherine saw his fingers flinch as he straightened his posture. "Has she seen what you're capable of?"

"She knows. Why are you even having this conversation with me?" He asked her, profoundly clueless.

Katherine took a big deep breath and looked up at Stefan's pea green eyes. "Because I'm trying to help you by finding the root of your problem with the whole Alice's humanity dilemma. Alice isn't capable of ripping someone's head off and you know it. She's too sensitive. Stop fearing that she'll become a Ripper because that'll stop you from getting her to turn it back on."

"Why are you helping?" He asked her.

She said, "I'm dying, I have no purpose being here anymore." Stefan didn't answer so Katherine sighed. "Look, Alice hasn't seen her brother for 128 years, she really loved him. Wouldn't you feel something if you saw Damon for the first time in 128 years?" She questioned him.

"How am I supposed to find Isaac? He could be anywhere." Stefan insisted.

Katherine displayed a petite paper with cursive writing on it. She had a smirk that crept on her face. "I may have missed the part where Isaac turned his daughter into a vampire. It's a good thing I ran into her in 1922 and befriended her."

Stefan took the paper and looked at the familiar address written on it. The same address to a house that Alice owned in North Carolina. He stared at the paper for a brief moment, then at Katherine before grabbing his keys.

* * *

"Alice…Alice wake up." Alice fluttered her eyes open, her vision was blurry at first but after fluttering her eyes a few more times the figure staring at her turned out to be Katherine. Alice immediately sat up and angrily charged at Katherine, using her speed to pin her up on the wall by the throat.

"What do you want?" She growled.

Katherine, who was struggling to breathe tried to remove Alice's grip but the more she tried the tighter Alice gripped. She watched her eyes become enflamed and red. "I…made you…breakfast." She coughed out.

Alice jerked her head to the glass of blood sitting on the coffee table beside the couch. Her eyes were slowly morphing back to its original state. "What?" She said releasing her grasp. Katherine stumbled to the ground and quickly followed Alice back to the couch.

She carefully observed as Alice hurriedly gulped down half of the glass before spitting it out. She coughed uncontrollably as her mouth sizzled like sausages in a saucepan. "I laced the blood with Vervain. Sorry, I must've forgot." Katherine mused with a smirk. When she saw Alice become enraged she rapidly fished out the fork in her back pocket, slamming down Alice's right hand onto the coffee table before stabbing the fork into it. The vampire yelled in pain. Katherine then took the other hand and stabbed another fork into that one.

Alice yelled in pain again, however, this time she laughed. "Is this what you call revenge? You kill my family, I kill Nadia, and then you stab forks into my hands. Real classy Katherine." She mocked.

Katherine peered over her and gave her a disagreeing expression. She took the half empty glass of Vervain-laced blood saying, "I would really watch your tone with me cupcake 'cause there's plenty more where these came from." And, with that, she forced Alice's mouth open and drained the blood down it. She heard her mouth sputter like fireworks. Katherine set the glass down onto the table and dropped her lightweight body onto the couch. "Your boyfriend's have asked me to keep you in the house and since you don't like me I thought I'd keep you pinned here instead."

"I know what you're doing Katherine. I'm surprised Stefan can't see right through you." Alice laughed at herself. "We both know you're only helping because you want Stefan to love you again. Well guess what 'cupcake' he's never going to love you."

"Let's take a History pop quiz." Katherine mused. "In 1864, who went to go look for Katherine Pierce after the founding families captured her? Was it a) Stefan Salvatore; b) Damon Salvatore; or c) both Salvatores?" Katherine leaned towards Alice's ear. "It was C."

"Stop talking your voice is giving me a headache." Alice retorted.

"Next question!" Katherine said. "Who went to look for Alice Reynolds when she didn't come back from Russia in 1886? Was it a) No one; b) Nobody; or c) Not a soul?" Katherine stepped off the couch and faced Alice but was unexpectedly hit in the face when Alice head-butted her firm. Katherine passed out on the floor.

"I got a question. Who hates the sound of Katherine Pierce's voice? Oh that's right, Alice Reynolds."

* * *

Damon switched the engine off and peered outside the window of his car. "Are you sure this was her house?" He asked.

"There's only one way to find out." Stefan replied, getting out of the car briskly. Damon followed in his footsteps quickly and the duo reluctantly walked up to the front door.

"What are we supposed to say to her? _Hi we're here to see your Father who might help us save your Auntie from ripping people's heads off. _Not exactly the best way to introduce her family." Damon said.

"We'll be elusive about it. " His brother advised. Stefan knocked rhythmically on the door.

No answer.

Stefan knocked on it again.

No answer.

Damon peeked through the mail slot and saw nothing but the stairs that once led up to Alice's bedroom. He closed the slot and elevated up. "There's no one inside."

Unexpectedly, the door moaned open and a familiar face appeared before them. It was Yana, but the fledgling version of her, and she had argent-coloured eyes instead of cobalt. They were piercing and both Salvatores had a flashback of their first encounter with Yana.

_The door busted open and a young girl, possibly in her late teens, smiled at them warmly. Her face was structured perfectly, like a person had mathematically calculated where her cheekbones would be sculpted. Her eyes were big and dewy like, her nose was broad yet slim on the bridge; and she had the brightest smile. _

_"Can I help you?" She asked. Her voice was soft and tender sounding. So divinely beautiful._

_"Uh –" Stefan mumbled. "We heard you were – um." He forgot his words._

_"We heard you were new to the neighbourhood and we wanted to welcome you." Damon finished quickly, smiling at the end. _

_The girl giggled and opened the door wider. "Oh, you must be looking for Alice."_

_Stefan smiled too and nodded. "Yeah, is she um – is she here?" He stuttered again._

_"She's visiting the town with her Mother but you're welcome to stay and wait for them." She mentioned. "But we only have Russian food." She said with an apologetic look. _

_Even though the Salvatores knew they were from Russia already they didn't want to appear creepy. "You're from Russia?" Damon exclaimed. "That's actually really surprising, your English is perfect."_

_"I teach English to Alice." She replied. "My name is Yana."_

_"I'm Damon Salvatore." He said, putting his hand out for Yana to shake it. She did. "This is my brother Stefan, we live six houses down from you." Damon was too busy chatting to notice a little kid a few metres away had fallen down and cut his leg. Stefan noticed it first and he rapidly warned Damon about it. "It's getting dark, I think we should get going." _

_"I'll tell Alice you stopped by Mr Salvatore." Yana said._

_Damon shook his head but he could already smell the boy's blood drifting into his nose. "You don't have to call us that, honestly. It was a pleasure meeting you." He said smiling. _

_Yana exchanged the beam and said, "You too Damon."_

"Can I help you?" Daria asked them.

* * *

**Sorry this chapter sucks I just wanted Isaac and Yana's background out of the way. I'm not sure why I suddenly changed my story format to center lol. I'm sorry. Please please please please review as always! I love reading them. **

**I wasn't exactly sure how to describe Yana since I'm more of an emotional/feelings describing person so I based her appearance on Yana Kudryavtseva, coincident they have the same name? Aha, lol ok. **

**Anyway I hope you enjoyed.**


	11. Chapter 11

**Disclaimer: I own nothing but my OC.**

* * *

Chapter Eleven

* * *

"Hi." Damon welcomed courteously. The younger version of Yana blinked, her body hidden behind the front door. "I'm Damon Salvatore, this is my brother Stefan."

Daria smiled politely. "Hi." She simply answered.

"Are your parent's home?" Stefan asked.

The Salvatore brother noticed something had suddenly changed in her kind facial expression. Even though they had never met her they had that feeling of distantness. Like she wanted to be alone. Maybe she wasn't comfortable talking about Yana, or maybe even Isaac. But she must have some idea where her father might be, she was the only hope left of getting Alice to turn her humanity back on.

Daria shifted her head, like she was listening to someone talking behind her but she didn't want to make it too obvious that she was. "It's okay, I know them." A coarse voice whispered behind her.

Reluctantly, Daria widened the door revealing herself. Somehow the sun didn't seem to disturb her, maybe it was the ring sitting on her middle finger. She was dressed casual, like she had just arrived from an extended, draining road trip from Delaware. She had washed out skinny jeans that had random cuts so her pale-complexioned legs peeked; a simple jumper that appeared 2 sizes bigger than her. Although it did suit her. Her face was alight, her smile never drooped, just her eyes. Her big, sterling coloured globes shimmered the sun's gloomy rays and both brother's stared at her in awe.

Stefan's eyes locked themselves on the dark silhouette lurking in the shadows. The silhouette was tall with a muscular build. When it stepped out into the sunlight the first thing both they both noticed was its eyes. _His_ eyes. They were what the brother's presumed were Isaac's eyes.

Just like Daria's they were argent coloured, like the moon on a melancholy night beaming its brightness down onto the globe. So tranquil to look at yet penetrating and enigmatic. Whilst Damon saw confusion in Isaac's eyes Stefan saw pain. It was not pain from a scratch nor a bruise, it was real pain. Real heartbreak, remorse, every torment in the world that could tear Isaac to pieces, was what Stefan witnessed. He felt sympathetic, for all that ever followed him was not Love, not Hope, but pain. Aching pain in his chest that never felt so real.

"Daria go upstairs." He said.

"Yes Father." She replied before scurrying away.

Isaac shot them a scowl. "If you want money you've come to the wrong house."

Damon furrowed his eyebrows. "We don't want anything from you." He said. "As a matter of fact we want _you._"

Stefan continued, "Your sister need your help. Well really, we do."

"She's still alive?" Isaac queried with concern though Damon heard a relief in his tone. "Is she okay?"

"Do you wanna break it to him or shall I?" The older sibling asked, Stefan gestured as if to say 'go ahead'. Or maybe it was because he didn't want his head on a stick. They both stared at Isaac with uncertainty, were they really going to go through with this? What if there was another way to help Alice turn her humanity back on? They could drown her in sad indie songs about feelings, maybe that way she could finally turn it back on. Damon sighed, "Alice is a vampire who turned her humanity switch off and now we need you to help her turn it back on or she'll go tumbling over the edge and neither of us will be able to save her." He said in one quick breath.

Immediately after gathering what Damon had just replied Isaac then again took Damon by the throat, squeezing it tighter by the second. Stefan, who was old and was a lot more powerful, attempted to remove his ex-fiancée's brother off of _his_ brother. But he wasn't strong enough to fight against a very pissed off Russian vampire. Stefan was sent flying to the side with one quick push by the fist. He swiftly stood up and raced towards the scene but thought about what he was going to do. He can't fight Isaac he's too strong.

There was a floorboard sticking up from where Stefan had landed on. It was wooden and could easily be broken to shape into a stake. With an idea that eventually popped up in his head he raced inside the house, Isaac oblivious to what was going on, snatched Daria from her room and dashed back downstairs.

"Let him go Isaac." Stefan yelled as Daria whimpered faintly.

Isaac rotated his head towards the direction of her whimpering and he saw Daria imprisoned in Stefan's embrace, wooden stake aimed at her heart. He was ready to let Damon free but with a second thought he held his grip tighter on Damon's throat.

"Let her go!" Isaac roared back at him with an infuriated look in his argent eyes.

"You let my brother go first then I'll let her go." Stefan promised. "Isaac we never meant for her to become a vampire but you have to trust us. She needs you right now. Alice and Daria need you."

"Father –" Daria pleaded.

Hesitantly, Isaac eventually loosened his grip around Damon's throat and he stood up. Just as the younger Salvatore had promised he freed Daria and she ran towards Isaac, he enveloped her in his arms and kissed her on the forehead to reassure her as she whimpered in his arms.

He brushed her golden locks with his fingers. "It's okay." There was silence that loitered in between them all, Stefan helped his brother up from the ground as he rubbed his neck. Isaac was either going to stay here and continue his life or help out his little sister. Both Salvatores couldn't explain how desperate they were for his help. "Fine. I'll help you." He said.

* * *

2 hours had passed. Katherine was starting to become conscious. Eventually she erected up from where she had fallen and rubbed her forehead, wincing at the pain that still remained. She fluttered her eyes to find Alice sitting uncomfortably, the forks still punctured through her hands.

Realising what she had done Katherine angrily pulled out one of the forks rapidly. Alice yelled loudly from the unexpected pain. "That was for failing my Pop quiz." She said then she drew the other fork out in rage. "And that was for head butting me." Once again, Alice groaned in soreness.

However Alice retorted quickly by using her speed to get behind Katherine and snatch the fork out of her hand. With a quick push Alice slammed Katherine's face onto the table. "Let's not forget who the human is here." Alice was ready to impale the fork into her hand.

"Wait!" Katherine shrieked in nervousness and Alice stopped abruptly. "I saved a blood bag for you." Katherine paused. "It's in the fridge."

There was a moment of silence. "How do I know you haven't laced it with Vervain?" Alice asked.

"Because I got Elena's brat of a brother to steal it from the hospital for me this morning." Katherine replied.

Alice furrowed her eyebrows suspiciously. "I don't believe you."

"Fine. I can get you a warm body to feed on."

"Fine, I'm coming with you." She said.

Katherine laughed. "No you're not." She replied disagreeing. "How do I know you won't run away?" She questioned the vampire. Reluctant to do so, Alice eventually released her and Katherine groaned as she rubbed her neck. She sighed and gave Alice a 'look' as if to say, "Well?"

"Well what?" She asked.

Rolling her eyes, Katherine shifted her weight from one foot to the other before folding her arms. "I highly doubt you'll stay here on my behalf so I need to be sure. Give me the fork." She held out her hand waiting for Alice to hand it over and with disinclination Alice finally lent it to her. Katherine gestured for her confederate to sit in the place she had been before, hands sprawled out like last time then Katherine penetrated the forks into her hands. This time Alice's yells were not like yells, they were grunting, as if she were trying to endure the minimal pain.

Katherine then settled to leave the house. She exited with an attitude to her walk, just like the first time she had approached the town of Mystic Falls as Katherine Pierce, not imitating her doppelgänger. Just as the door closed she quickly pulled out her phone and texted Damon.

* * *

Damon's phone vibrated on the dashboard of the car. He picked it up and read the message he had received from Katherine.

**To: Damon**

**From: Katherine**

**Where the hell are you?**

He decided to ignore her for the moment since he wasn't much experienced in multi-tasking. He switched his phone off and shoved it in the pocket of his jeans. Glancing up at the mirror he noticed Yana staring outside the window before she turned her gaze back into the car and caught Damon staring. She simply smiled as the Salvatore abruptly looked away.

Damon exhaled through his nose, hinting that he was slightly frustrated. "So…you and the hand-maiden huh?" He said breaking the silence, referring to Isaac.

"Why do you sound so surprised? My brother had a fondness for her too, I'm sure you did as well." Isaac replied.

Damon looked up at the mirror again and this time when Daria glanced up, he managed to force a weak smile out of himself. "How did you find her exactly?"

"I went looking for my father actually." Daria managed to squeeze in before Isaac could reply. "I ran away from my orphanage on my 15th birthday. I travelled all the way to Ukraine just to find him."

* * *

_Soldier Camp, Kharkov, Ukraine 1886_

_There was laughing that Daria heard coming from a fire nearby. It was a good thing the majority of the population in Kharkov spoke Russian. _

_"Viktor where are you going?" Daria heard one man shout. It was obvious that he had been drinking too much. _

_"We have to get up early for tomorrow. You can carry on though." Another man replied, which Daria assumed was Viktor._

_The other man laughed and raised his tin cup. "Don't be foolish, drink with us!" He pleaded. _

_Viktor chuckled, "You're drunk Anton. Take it easy." _

_Realising it wouldn't be such a good idea to ask the soldiers if they knew where 'Isaak Romanov' was, Daria rotated and settled off to find another camp. The moonlight was glowing in the eerie night. It looked so magnificent, it was like staring at the most beautiful jewel in the world. Captivating and alluring. Daria dodged a few branched in the woods that got in her way. From afar she could see a dim fire light with people congregated around it. Laughing and chatting just like the one that Viktor and Anton had been in. She continued to walk towards the dim firelight when she heard a twig snap from behind. With a quick reaction Daria jerked her body around to see if anyone was following her. Nobody was there. _

_"Hello?" She called out. No answer. She presumed it must've been an animal, although she had suspicions she still wanted to continue no matter the consequence. Daria wanted to find her father and she wasn't going to stop. Lifting her cloak hood she picked up her probably squalid dress and craned around. That was until she saw a dark tall figure standing just centimetres from her. Daria was ready to scream when the dark figure put his wet hand to her mouth. This kind of wet, was a heavy wet, like a dense liquid that tasted of metal. _

_The figure advised her not to scream so she bit her tongue. "I haven't eaten for days so I apologise for what I'm about to do." He quickly confessed and Daria whimpered. _

_Even though she had no chance of getting away she still wanted to know if this man knew of her father. If he did then at least she could die knowing her quest was worth it. "Isaak Romanov –" She said through a breath. "I'm looking for Isaak Romanov." _

_Daria felt the grip around her loosen. "What?" He asked, shunned by her query. _

_"He's my father. I ran from my orphanage in Russia to find him. Please tell me you know where he is." She said. _

_The man released her and stepped back. In the dark light it appeared as if he were shaking his head in disappointment or regret. "I'm sorry. I can't help you." Daria furrowed her eyebrows, suspicious that the man did know where her father was. "I hope you find what you're looking for." And, with that, he walked away. _

_Eager to receive answers, Daria picked up her dress and followed the man. "Wait!" She said latching herself onto his arm. "It's my 15__th__ birthday. I've spent my entire life wondering if he's alive or not. The least you can do is lie and tell me he's alive." She said. The man hesitated for a second but didn't say anything. "Please." She begged him. _

_The man sighed. "I'm sorry, Mr Romanov died of an animal attack in Russia in 1871."_

_At that moment Daria knew exactly who this man was. Nobody was capable of refusing her request. She was as desperate as anyone could ever be and this man still refused her? She freed him and asked, "It's you isn't it?" _

_There was a droplet that left her eye. All the time she spent trying not to get caught was for nothing? She had come all the way to Ukraine to find out her father didn't want her. On the Brightside he hadn't exactly replied so she wasn't exactly ready to make that decision yet._

_"Daria I –" Her name escaped his mouth like smoke from a cigarette, unforced but still ghastly. _

_She interrupted with a soft sob. "All this time you never came looking for me. I find you and you don't even care."_

_Isaak jerked around swiftly, "What? Daria, of course I do. It tore me to pieces that I had to let you go. When I said my last goodbye to you I died inside. I spent nights on end thinking about you. Giving you up was the biggest mistake I ever made, I should've fought for you."_

_"Why didn't you?" She asked through a gasp._

_The gloomy clouds opened a pathway for the moonlight to shine through and coincidentally its rays bounced onto Daria and her father. Noticing this, Isaak leisurely pulled her hood off her head and when he saw her eyes he felt warmth fill inside his stomach. _

_"Daria –" He said cupping her cheek, his thumb caressing her face. His senses allowed him to hear the fire crackling in the distance and not only that but he heard his daughter's blood rush through her body. The pulsating sound of her heart contracting, forcing the blood to get round the body rapidly. His eyes started to become enflamed._

_"Your eyes." She mentioned and he quickly jerked away._

_"You have to go." He advised, enclosing his hand into a tight fist. _

_Daria heard him grunt. "No I just found you, I'm not losing you again." She paused. "I ran all the way here and it was the most frightening thing I had done but I'm no longer afraid. The only thing I'm afraid of is losing you, Father." _

_With the urge to bite he fought it back and realised that when she called him 'Father' he heard her first cries when she was just born. That was the sound that he fell in love with, the sound that stopped everything from moving or breathing. With eyes still enflamed he glared at her with dejected eyes. "I love you…Daria but I can't take care of you. You have a whole future ahead of you. Get married, have children, grow old, do what you can whilst you have the time. But I won't let you watch all the horrible things that I have done." And, with that, he vanished into thin air. _

_"Father!" She shouted trying to hook him but failed miserably. Tossing and turning she searched for him but there was no sign. Nothing. Just an empty surrounding of trees and fallen leaves, with distant fire nearby. Upset, Daria dropped to her knees and cried. She cried until she could no longer free herself of tears and all she could do was fall asleep, soundly and silently._

* * *

"So what happened?" Stefan asked, picking his lip.

Damon curved the car in front of the Salvatore mansion and his face scrunched at the sight of an ex-lover. "Don't tell me she let the devil off its leash." He said as Katherine approached them.

The older sibling rolled the car window down as Katherine leaned forward and scanned the passengers. "What the hell happened to you? I thought you were dead."

Stefan ignored her and hopped out the car, Daria and Isaac following. Damon opened the door on Katherine and she stumbled back. "I wish you _were_ dead."

"Damon!" She scolded sardonically, gaping her mouth like a 7 year old. "Do you always have to be so discourteous in front of our guests?"

"I was speaking my honest mind." He retorted.

Katherine's eyes switched from the older Salvatore to Daria who was hiding behind her father. "Is this –" She asked raising an elegant eyebrow and Damon nodded. "Are you sure she isn't a doppelgänger? She has an uncanny resemblance to her mother."

"No I'm pretty sure she isn't. Her Mom wasn't as cruel and heartless unlike you." Damon said.

His ex-lover pursed her lip and tilted her head. "A girl's got to do what she's got to do to survive."

Damon raised both his eyebrows whilst widening his eyes. "Yeah and look where that got you."

On the other hand, Stefan closed his eyes in frustration and interrupted. "Where is she?"

"Why don't you see for yourself?" Katherine said and led them into the Salvatore mansion.

The door moaned open and Katherine's heeled boots echoed throughout the hall. Alice craned her head in her direction. She was still confined by the forks, her legs traversed and her face was unmitigated with monotony.

"Did you get me someone or not?" Alice asked tediously.

Katherine's lips rose into a devious smirk. "I got you something better." She stepped down the mini stairs and Alice had to look twice to check if it really was who she thought it was. Her entire life she'd thought he'd been dead. He never went looking for her, but then again neither did she. But after 127 years of separation seeing him would at least trigger something in her that would cause her to turn her humanity back on.

"Brother?" She said.

* * *

**I know not a lot has happened in this chapter but I had to update. So I'm sorry. **

**I hope you liked it and as always please do review!**


	12. Chapter 12

**Disclaimer: I own nothing by my OC(s).**

* * *

Chapter Twelve

* * *

"Surprise!" Katherine said with an evil smirk. She ambled towards Alice and favourably removed the forks out of her hand. With a rapid dash, Alice charged towards her brother, immobilising him up against the wall. Surprise was evident upon Katherine's face as she set the forks down on the table. "Well I didn't see that one coming."

"Please don't hurt him!" Daria pleaded stepping forward, ready to fight Alice off.

Isaac shook his head declining. "No, Daria get back." He said struggling to breathe.

"But Father –"

"Just stay away, please." He demanded and without hesitance Daria stepped back.

Alice glanced over to Daria, trying to gather together what had just happened, then she switched her glance to her brother and lifted him higher. "'Father?!'" She repeated. "You have a child?!"

"Had," Isaac re-phrased. "Yana gave birth to her in 1871." He wanted to fight back but he felt like he deserved this. After all, he hadn't even put the effort in trying to find her.

Alice appeared as if she was about to cry but her eyebrows were furrowed sternly. "Yana?" She scoffed with a sad expression. "And you didn't think to tell me until a century and a half later?!"

Gasping for air Isaac managed to say, "You were just a child Alice, you wouldn't have known what Father might've done if he knew the baby was your handmaiden's. I wasn't prepared to risk her life. I loved her and I still do."

Alice understood and respected her brother. He had to do what he had to do to keep the one he loved safe, if it were Alice in his shoes and Stefan's in Yana's she would've done the same thing. But she was still furious that in all the years that had passed he hadn't made the effort to call or maybe even text her a simple 'Hi' to let her know he was alive. "All these years I thought you were dead Isaac!" Then she released him and turned her back on him, facing the Salvatore brothers. "You can get a round of applause for trying to get my humanity back but you didn't. So I won't give you a medal for succeeding. Nice try though, I appreciate it." And, with that, she stormed off, her hair bouncing as she took a step with her left foot.

Damon sighed and approached his liquor cupboard. "What are we supposed to do now?"

"We need a plan C." Stefan blatantly suggested.

His older brother scrunched his face. "And a plan D, and a plan E. We need a plan for the entire alphabet."

"I have an idea." Isaac offered looking from the Salvatore brothers, then to Katherine, then finally his daughter. He looked disappointed, sad and hurt. "But you're not going to like it."

* * *

Several hours later and Isaac had eventually found Alice's hideout. The roof of the Salvatore mansion. He saw her lying down peacefully against the rooftop tiles, one foot over the other, staring up at the night stars.

"I thought you'd be out massacring the entire town by now." Isaac said as he carefully walked towards his sister. It felt good to see her at last. For over a century ago they had said goodbye without really meaning it.

Alice said, "I'm not hungry."

Isaac laid himself next to her cautiously and he too, looked up at the stars. "Are you okay?" He asked.

"I don't feel anything." She said inhaling the cold winter breeze.

"You do." Isaac insisted. "You were angry at me earlier on."

Alice didn't reply. She simply laid there and closed her eyes. "I should've stayed with you in Russia."

"But you didn't. And you got to grow up and fall in love. I know there are parts of you that I grew up with are still in there." He said.

And she said, "I'm not a whole person anymore and I don't think I ever will be. Parts of me died in the house that I grew up in. But the part that still clings on to me is the vulnerable part of me. I trust too many people too quickly that I don't even realise they've betrayed me until I feel the damage they caused on me."

Isaac sighed. "You betrayed someone who loved you a lot too." He paused, thinking for a moment. "You betrayed the Salvatore's didn't you?"

"I hurt Damon the most. I led him to believe that we could be together and that was selfish and wrong of me. That wasn't how Mother raised me to treat other people." Alice confessed willingly.

"And Stefan?"

She inhaled the bleak winter air again. "I hurt him equally as bad I suppose. At the time it didn't really seem like it hurt him that much. I loved him."

"Why's that?"

"Because he's explored parts of me that nobody has explored before. He's seen parts of me that nobody has seen before. He's touched parts of me that nobody has touched before. He's inside of me like a disease; ever-lasting and never-ending. He's a part of me. He's infinitely inside of me and if I ever lose him I'd lose myself too."

"What about Damon?" He asked.

"Sometimes, I can only feel something by his absence. By the empty space he leaves behind. He floods my thoughts every second of every day and I can't escape because I don't know how to swim but that's okay. How can a person be filled with life and then be empty? Where does it all go?"

Then he said, "A part of you has come back." He looked at her with sympathy. He knew that his love for Yana wasn't as complicated and compassionate as his sister's love for the brothers. He knew her. And he knew that she would never do anything to hurt them, that's why she must never choose. "You must be hungry." He elevated from the rooftop and held out his hand out for Alice. "Come on we got you someone to feed on." She took his hand as he helped her up before they went back inside the mansion.

* * *

They later met with the Salvatore brothers, Daria, Katherine and an unfamiliar face standing beside Isaac's daughter.

Katherine threw her head back in relief and groaned. "Finally." She stood up from the couch. "Alice this is Ashley."

"You remember Ashley don't you?" Damon asked with a disgusted face.

Alice locked her eyes with his as she walked over to Ashley. When she got close enough to feel Ashley's whimpering breath, Alice's eyes became enflamed and two sharp canines emerged from her mouth. They sunk deep into the innocent girl's carotid artery, puncturing it easily as she sucked the pumping blood violently. Everyone watched as she fed, sucked harder and bit deeper into Ashley. Katherine watched Ashley's skin started to tear.

Stefan stepped forward with concern. "Alice –"

But before he could even finish Alice had ripped off Ashley's head, her fingers clutching onto her hair as the headless body tumbled to the ground. She then let go of the head as a blood pool started to form. Alice seemed over satisfied with her masterpiece that she licked her lips in enjoyment and turned to Katherine. Everyone had hoped the other part of her humanity would come back but it turned out that she had completely switched it off.

"I'm not sure whether to save you for dessert." Alice pondered.

Katherine shook her head. "No. You've had your fun Alice. It's time to stop." Suddenly, she sprinted towards Isaac with a wooden stake that she had kept hidden in her back pocket and impaled it through his heart.

"No! Father!" Daria screeched trying to run to him. Damon had a hold of her as she attempted to go after him. The plan had been devised already but Daria wasn't ready to lose her father. She didn't want to be alone.

At that moment, Alice's enflamed eyes reverted back to normal. She had a crestfallen look in her face. And as she looked her brother in the eye he saw her smile as he mouthed, "Goodbye."

His body was ready to stumble to the floor when Alice caught it in time. Oblivious to Katherine for the moment, Katherine backed away silently. Alice pulled the stake out of his heart but she was already too late, his body had begun to desiccate.

"Isaac?" She called out. "Isaac –" She said faintly and soon a tear escaped her eye. That was the signal that told everyone in the room that Alice's humanity had finally come back. Her brother's death was the key to turning the switch back on. Alice hugged is body, now she was crying. "Isaac don't leave me please. I need you – I need you." She pulled away making sure to gently lay his head on the floor. "Oh God, Isaac wake up. You _have_ to wake up you can't do that to me.

Stefan knelt down beside her, trying to get her away from the desiccated corpse. "Alice – He's dead."

She resisted. "No! He's not dead, he's not – My brother isn't dead! No! No! No!" She kept repeating. There were tears that wouldn't stop exiting her eyes. Alice wasn't ready to lose him just yet, they had only just found each other.

Stefan remained kneeled by her side, he looked down before gently placing his hands on her bleak shoulders. Alice flinched at the coldness of his touch. "His heart stopped beating. You have to let him go." He said.

But Alice refused. "I can't, I can't. I can't do that!" She screamed. With desperation to get her brother back she violently shook him by the shoulders. She had hoped that he would open his and eyes and look at her. Or that he would move one of his fingers but the only thing that she had received was nothing.

Quickly, Stefan pulled her off from the body that was now desiccated. It was a struggle to pull her off for she was willing to fight him, but he managed to. And when he did he turned her so she faced him, taking her face into his hands. "Alice look at me." She didn't. "Hey, look at me. It's gonna be okay." He said and she looked up at him with the most excruciating dismaying eyes he had ever encountered upon. "He's gonna be okay." But as much as Stefan didn't want to say those words he had to, he had to keep her together from breaking apart.

Alice shook her head, disagreeing angrily. "No. No it won't. My brother is dead! The only family I had left is dead Stefan! Don't you get that? My brother is dead." She continued repeating.

Breathing heavily he tightened his grip on her face, forcing her to keep her eyes pinned with his. "It hurts I know but listen to me. Find something worth fighting for." He said. It hurt Alice, a lot. It felt like someone had ripped out her heart and sucked all the happiness from her life, turning her grey, isolated from the rest of the world. "Be your own anchor."

Alice held a whimper for a second before rotating to overlook Isaac's desiccated body. Frozen and lifeless. The whimper she had held back seemed to have escaped as she dropped to the ground, her clothes becoming soaked from Ashley's pool of blood. Stefan knelt down again to pull her off but she resisted sternly, wanting to stay with her brother for a little longer.

On the other hand Katherine was slowly and quietly backing away to escape from the scene. With everyone oblivious to her for the moment she successfully managed to exit without becoming unnoticed.

Sooner or later, Alice had become weak and the Salvatore finally succeeded to get her away from the body. He scooped her up in his sturdy arms and carried her bridal-style upstairs to the bathroom. There he sat her down on the closed toilet and pushed her hair behind her ear. Alice persisted silent and still for she had nothing to stay. She didn't want to say anything.

"Come on, let's get you cleaned up." Stefan said with reassurance in his tone. Alice blinked but that was all he needed to let him know that she was okay. For now.

With patience he slowly removed Alice's clothing one by one. At first he was hesitant to remove the last two pieces but he remembered that it was okay. She need him right now and that was all that mattered. Finally, he carefully helped her step inside the bath, taking the shower head from its place. He switched the tap on. The water was icy-cold at first but it gradually became warm enough for Alice to endure. Stefan washed off the blood on her body with his hands. Alice pulled her knees to her chest and rested her chin on it. There's that moment when you feel the warmth of the water indulge your body that you can't help but let out all your sadness. It makes you question why you ever trust people, and why they betray you. Alice thought about how at peace she was. Being alone with Stefan, with no one to disrupt her calmness. She burst out into tears and wanted desperately than to die, 128 years might not seem like a lot but it had been torture for her and all she wanted to do was desiccate just like her brother. She should have never gone home in 1886. She would've been 6 feet in the ground by now.

Stefan switched the tap back off and returned the showerhead where it belonged. He grabbed the nearest towel and draped it over Alice who clutched it. "Come on." He said gesturing for her to stand up. Then he aided her out of the bath and assembled her down on the closed toilet again. Leaving her by herself for a moment, he went back to his room and grabbed some clothes that he had borrowed from Caroline and returned to the bathroom. Silently he dressed her as best he could before carrying her into his bedroom where he then sat her down on his bed. Stefan stormed into Damon's room and searched for one of Elena's hairdryers which he found in a drawer. Walking back to his room he saw Alice staring at Katherine's picture. He looked to the ground and sighed, but decided it was best not to talk so he plugged the hairdryer in and began to dry her hair.

It was not long before her entire hair was dry. Stefan unplugged the hairdryer and wrapped the wire around it. He was about to leave when Alice called out his name. "Stefan?"

The Salvatore craned his body but to the fragile Alice sitting on the edge of his bed. She didn't speak. He knew that she didn't know what to say, he also knew that she didn't want to be alone. He walked back to her, his boots echoing against the timber floorboards. Stefan crouched down and smiled weakly. "It's gonna be okay."

* * *

Damon followed Daria into his room, he watched as she observed the room with curious eyes. She had somehow managed to keep her hurt inside.

"I can get you some clothes. I'm sure Elena wouldn't mind." He said interrupting her scan around the room.

Daria sniffled. "Thanks." He pursed his lip before walking out. "Hey, Damon?" She called out. He stepped back inside and raised his eyebrows.

"Mm?"

"I'm sorry." She said.

And he asked, "For what?"

"I'm sorry about Alice, Katherine, Elena, and my Mother." She looked down. "It's not a nice feeling knowing you're everyone's second choice." He remained silent. "I don't like that feeling but it has made a home in my skin and it won't leave."

"I try not to feel jealous about things, or people or places. It's toxic. Just keep living. You will find your happiness." He said to her. She nodded and smiled a weak smile.

Then he rotated to leave but Daria called him back once again. "I saw the way Alice looked at you. Even if she chooses Stefan you shouldn't stop fighting for her. It's part of the Romanova curse to fall in love with two people."

"Your father…?" He pondered.

"He had an affair with another woman but I still have my father's eyes and my mother's lips. On my face they still fit perfectly for each other." Daria said.

"And what about you?" He asked her.

"I'm a patient person." She told him smiling. "I'll wait for when the time comes."

"It's hard to believe you're not Yana." Damon scoffed.

"I need your help. I can't wait any longer anymore." She finally chirped out. "I have to die."

Damon frowned. "What?"

"I spent my entire life walking in my Father's shadow. Now that he's gone I have no purpose being here anymore. My life has been hell, I want the cravings to stop, and I don't want to run anymore. I'm tired of running. It would be a bigger burden for Alice to have to look after me if she can't even look after herself. Did you see how broken she was?"

"But you just found family. You're a part of the Salvatore family now, we can take you in. Be your legal guardian. You don't have to die. Not yet." Damon begged.

But Daria shook her head. "I can't Damon. I want to see my Mother and be with my Father. I want to be with my own family."

"I'm not letting you kill yourself. Do you hear me?" He barked.

"Please. You owe me. I agreed to let Katherine kill my own Father for your benefit of having Alice's humanity back."

"Suppose you die then, how are you going to see your Mom? She was a human."

"I did a little bit of searching whilst I was looking for my Father." Damon groaned knowing he'd have no say in what he wanted. "Turns out my Mother was born in Romania to a family of travellers who practised traveller magic." She looked at him with dismayed eyes. "Damon."

He was hesitant to reply. He didn't_ want_ to reply. "Fine." He growled. "But I won't be there by your side to watch you die."

Daria felt relieved that he would help. With a smile she said, "Thank you."

* * *

**Thank you for reading, I hope you enjoyed the chapter. **

**Please please review as I've finally got back into writing because I'm getting a whole lot better.**

**It makes me smile knowing you have the time to read and review so thank you once again. x**


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